Years ago I used to bake vege pies and quiches and make a nice pumpkin/root vegetable soup and I "sold" these things to the people in my Buddhist group. I called my little venture " Great Bliss". The profits went to the centre. Another time I held a one "man" cake stall outside my local supermarket and sold loads of goodies I had made all myself to raise money for His Holiness the Dalai Lama's visit to Perth ( I think it was 1990?). I made all kinds of cakes, caramel popcorn, all kinds of cookies, shortbread, cheese scones and sweet scones, my vege pies and quiches and cheese straws, homemade dog biscuits.. all kinds of stuff... I had made some of the things a day or two ahead and the rest of the things I stayed up all night to bake fresh...I raised about $360, probably not much more than I spent on the ingredients for the food, but I think it was good because it gave people a chance to hear about HH's visit and also to create good karma by purchasing the food and therefore contributing to this special event....
(sigh)............I feel I was a better person in those days.. what a thing to feel...been trying to do something about that lately...
I haven't made these pies for YEARS. But I remembered them this morning when I was thinking about cooking the vegetable pie tonight. Paul thought we might go to the movies and out to tea this evening as we haven't been for a while but he's not feeling 100% so we're not deciding till he gets home from work. I was thinking that the pie is not as nice heated up as it is fresh out of the oven (cos of the potato topping.. you know how I dislike leftover potato) but if we don't go out tonight, I will need to have some dinner ready. Then I thought of these pies which are individual and don't have potato on top, they DO have some grated cheese, ( well, you could leave it off but I don't think Paul would like them as much). They are very "portable" and also freeze pretty well.. I thought if we do end up going out I could give Paul one for his lunch tomorrow, I could have one for my lunch and I can freeze the rest...( I had to freeze the two leftover serves of the vegetable crepes from the other night... he didn't want them for his lunch yesterday and I didn't eat mine either since I had to go in and BUY lunch instead!!! ehehheheheh!)
My vege pies are very easy to make :
Chop up onion, and an assortment of veges.. swede, potato,broccoli, corn, carrot, pumpkin, cauli, celery , whatever you have..... about three cups.
Heat a little oil and saute the onion, then toss in the veges, about 1/2 tsp of cummin, 1/4 tsp of curry powder and move around till the spices are cooked.
Tip in about 3/4 cup of red lentils and mix in. Add some water.. not too much, you can add more but if you put too much you will have to cook everything to a mush before the excess evaporates.
Cover and cook till all is tender...season with S and P and some vege seasoning ifyou like..... if there is too much liquid (it should be moist but not sloppy),leave the lid off and cook till it's right.... not too dry either as you're going to bake them soon, so the filling will dry out a bit more then as well.
Put aside to cool and make your favourite pastry... I used about 2 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup minute oats, 2 tbls oil, about 150 g butter or margarine, 1/2 tsp salt and hot water. I sprinkle the salt into the flour and rub the butter/marg in, then add the oil and enough HOT water to make a dough...(Thanks to my late Aunty Violet for teaching me how to make HOT water pastry.. sooo easy...)
If you have little pie tins use those or you can make a big pie... flour your working surface, roll the pastry out and fit it to the greased tins or pie plate. Bake in moderate oven for a few minutes just so the pastry is parcooked but not BROWN... fill with vege/lentil mixture, grate some cheese over the top( optional) and I like to garnish the pies with chopped parsley, a small pieces of tomato for colour, some sunflower seeds and a sprinkle of paprika. Bake till nice and brown enough for yr taste.. Check by lifting the edge of the pie with a knife to see if the bottom of the pastry is cooked, if not bake a little longer towards the bottom or on the bottom of the oven.
If you've made individual pies you can take them out of the tins and cool on a wire tray, if it is a big one you can serve it from the dish, or wait till it's a bit cooler and firmer and then cut into pieces and remove.
If you have any pastry left over, give it to the kids to play with and bake shapes, they can put some seeds or cheese to make savory "crackers" .. I made a "pizza" with mine and ate it for breakfast!
Enjoy! :)
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