Gluten Free Monshari Pie
(Baked Sweet Potato and Beetroot Pie with Almond Fetta)
As part of the three day Vegan Foundation Cooking Course you get to create your own signature dish. In the May course Monica and Shari made a vegan gluten free pie and named it Monshari Pie. It is as wonderful as the name itself.
Last Monday I was all set to remake the pie so I could share the recipe with you all and for the life of me I couldn’t locate the recipe. I asked around and a copy of the recipe didn’t make it to me until 7 that night (from the wonderful Georgie – thank you). Still determined to make it that day I just followed what I could recall and I wasn’t too far wrong.
There are two versions of this pie. You can make the almond cheese so that it sets into lumps throughout the pie, which is how Monica and Shari made it. However Shari told me she thought the pie filling could have been creamier so when I redeveloped it I made an almond cream sauce to run through the veg. Both versions were delicious so I will include both ways of doing the almond cheese.
Note: if you don’t have time to make pastry, cook some quinoa and put this on top of the filling in a baking dish and cook for 20 minutes in the oven at 190°C or until the quinoa crisps a little.
Monshari Pie
Pastry
270g gf plain flour
2 tsp xantham gum
½ tsp salt
115g vegan butter chilled
3 tbsp water mixed with 1 tbsp ground flax seeds
160ml water
Filling
4 medium beetroots
3 medium sweet potatoes diced to 2-3 cm pieces
½ tsp turmeric
2 eggplant or 1 cauliflower if eggplant is out of season
2 onions cut in half then sliced
2 cloves garlic (optional)
1 tsp ground coriander
4 sprigs of mint chopped finely
Approx. 4 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tsp Lebanese Spice (see recipe below)
¼ cup plant based milk for brushing the pastry
Almond Fetta
1 cup almonds (soaked overnight)
¼ cup nutritional yeast
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
⅓ cup water for a thick almond fetta cheese
Or ⅔ cup water for a creamy almond fetta cheese
Lebanese Spice Mix
5 tsp allspice
3½ tsp pepper
3½ tsp ground cinnamon
5 tsp cloves
4 tsp ground nutmeg
4 tsp fennel
4 tsp ground ginger
Method
Lebanese Spice Mix
Grind the allspice, pepper, cloves and fennel in a spice grinder then mix with the other ground spices.
Almond Fetta
Place everything in a blender and blend until smooth.
Pastry
1. Combine the flour, xantham gum and salt in a bowl and mix well.
2. Add the butter to the flour and gently mix with your hands until it resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Mix in the flax and 160ml water. Note: I gradually add the water as sometimes you don’t need to use all of the water.
4. Form a ball and wrap with a silicon wrap or biodegradable wrap then place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
5. Bring out of the fridge and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.
6. Sprinkle some gluten free flour on a board and roll out the pastry to 5mm thick.
Filling
1. Place the whole beetroots in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer for 40 minutes or until the beetroot are tender.
2. Once tender, strain from the water and peel off the skins and dice to 2-3 cm pieces.
3. Place the sweet potato in a baking tray with oil and the turmeric. Put the eggplant or cauliflower in another tray with oil and sprinklings of salt. Cook both trays for 20 minutes, check for tenderness and cook for up to another 20 minutes.
4. Place the oil in a frying pan and fry the onions with some salt, the coriander and the Lebanese spice. Keep on a simmer until the onions are nice and soft. Fold in the mint.
5. When the veggies are all soft mix them with the onions in a bowl.
6. Either fold through the creamy fetta or thick almond cheese.
7. Transfer the filling to a pie dish and put the pastry on top of the filling.
8. Brush the pie with some plant based milk.
9. Bake in a 190°C oven for 20 minutes or until the pastry browns a little.
# If you make this recipe please share on facebook or instagram to #veetsvegancookingschool
Why do we develop a signature dish in the Vegan Cooking (Foundation) Course?
Who would like to come along and develop their own signature dish? The purpose of this activity in the Vegan Foundation Cooking Course is for you to see how easy it is to convert regular recipes into vegan ones. To show you ways that you can change recipes if the ingredients needed are not available. It also encourages you to work with ease in the kitchen and helps you plan everyday cooking as well as dinner party catering.
There are only 11 opportunities left in 2019 for you to come along and join this life changing course.
August 22nd to 24th 1 place left
September 12th to 16th 1 place left
October 3rd to 5th 3 places left
November 14th to 16th 6 places left
I will announce 2020 dates next week (oops I said this last week too – its been a busy week – next week I promise!).
Vegan Chef Training modules 1 to 5
There is presently still a place left for modules 1 to 5 of the Vegan Chef Training. The group is small so you will be guaranteed lots of attention. Come along and do it for a career change or just for personal home use. The first 5 modules are so packed with incredible recipes, information, techniques and tips along with plenty of space to develop your own creativity in the kitchen.
For more information visit our Vegan Chef Training page
Upcoming Blog Posts
Next week I will be doing a blog on packed lunches for school, university and work. The week after I have no plan. Anyone want anything in particular? Send me an email with your request and I’ll do my best.
Have a great week everyone
Love Veet
