There were a couple of culinary firsts for me this week.

Firstly, I made a vegetarian hot water pastry, based on one I found in my Pie cookbook.

Instead of using lard, I used a bit of vegetarian suet.

I’ve never, ever eaten a pork pie (I’ve been vegetarian since the eighties). I had to ask Justin if my pastry was anything like it is meant to be… seeing as he eats this kind of raised pie on a regular basis. In fact, he buys & eats a pork pie every Thursday without fail – sharing it with Fudge on their walks after an early flea market foray.

My other first was cumin-spiced pumpkin chickpea pies.

We bought a pumpkin at Halloween so I was looking for a new way of using it.

I’m not a huge fan of pumpkin pie. Granted, I’ve only had it the once, but it didn’t leave fond memories.

I much prefer these squash type vegetables savoury rather than sweet.

It certainly makes a good substantial filling for this type of pie – great flavour too with the addition of the very complimentary curry spices.

This recipe makes quite a few, small pies. If like us you’re only likely to eat a few at a time, they can be frozen both before and once cooked.

They’re the perfect little autumn pies!

Cumin-spiced pumpkin chickpea pies

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Course Main Course

Cuisine British

Ingredients

  

For the pastry

• 275 g/10oz plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 60 g/2oz butter
• 60 g/2oz vegetable suet
• 110 ml/4 fl oz cold water

For the filling

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbs curry powder
• 1 tsp chilli flakes optional
• 1 tin chickpeas 180g/6oz net
• 750 g/1lb 10½oz pumpkin cut into ½cm cubes
• 2 tsp salt
• cracked black pepper to taste
• 1 bay leaf

Instructions

 

For the pastry

• Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl
• Make a well in the centre and crack in the egg, then use the empty shell to flick a little of the flour over the surface of the egg so it's hidden
• Put the water, butter and suet into a small saucepan and set over a medium heat, stirring until everything dissolves and the water is just coming to a boil
• Remove from the heat and pour the hot mixture over the flour and egg
• Mix continuously with a metal spoon (I used the dough hook and my electric mixer) until the mixture comes together into a ball
• Tip on to a lightly floured work surface, knead briefly for about a minute before wrapping it in cling film, forming it into a fat sausage shape as you wrap
• Chill in the fridge for 30-45 minutes to firm up before using

For the filling

• In a large saucepan over a low heat, soften the chopped onion in the olive oil
• Add the cumin seeds and then curry powder and chilli flakes and stir
• Drain and rinse the chickpeas under the tap using a strainer before adding to the saucepan
• Add the pumpkin, bay leaf, salt and black pepper, combining everything well before putting a lid on the pan and allowing it to cook for about 10 minutes
• Once cooked, set aside and allow to cool completely
• Cut a number of 1cm strips (2 per pie) of baking parchment to line the pie tin (I used a silicon muffin tray, see my image above). This is to help remove the pies easily once cooked
• Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4
• Remove the pastry dough from the fridge, remove the cling film before slicing into 1cm rounds
• Roll out or flatten the rounds and put half of them into the lined pie tins so that there is an overhang
• Fill each pastry case with filling right to the top, before using the other pastry rounds to top the pies
• Fold the overhanging pastry over the pie lid, crimping the edges to seal
• Pierce the centre of each lid to allow steam to escape when cooking
• Brush a little beaten egg over each lid
• Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes
• Allow to cool on a wire rack

Keyword chickpeas, hot water pastry, pastry, pie, pumpkin, vegetarian