Sweet Potato Cheese Pie

As far as vegetarian pies go this one really rates highly. Mega simple to pull together and totally delicious to eat. Despite being a pie it’s not a classic winter warmer and although works well with a large serving of gravy it can be equally as good with a side of buttered greens or salad. Think of this more as a spring/summer pie and get baking ASAP.

Sweet Potato Cheese Pie

Feeds - 6-8

Preparation Time – 15 -20 minute

Cooking Time – 20-25 minutes

Ingredients –

1 Pack pre-made shortcrust pastry

Knob of butter

2 Large sweet potatoes – Peeled and chopped into medium sized chunks and boiled until soft

2 Spring onions – Finely sliced (including green ends)

100g Feta – Roughly crumbled

1 Cup of frozen peas

100g Mature cheddar – Roughly chopped into 1cm chunks

Generous sprinkle rock salt

Generous sprinkle of white and black pepper

Handful Taragon – Roughly chopped

1 Free range egg – Whisked for egg wash

Instructions –

Begin by boiling a pan of water and adding your peeled and roughly cubed sweet potato to it, add a small pinch of salt and boil for around 8-10 minutes or until soft. Next roll out your shortcrust pastry making sure you have enough for both the base of the pie and the lid. When rolling out the lid sprinkle some tarragon leaves on your work surface plus some freshly ground black pepper and place the pastry over it, continuing to roll so the herbs stick into the pastry. Set to one side and take a non-stick pie dish and coat with an extra layer of butter just to make sure the pastry won’t stick. Place the pastry into the dish leaving plenty hanging over the edges of the dish as the pastry will shrink a little when cooked.

For the filling combine the cooked sweet potato (mashing it first and seasoning it) with the spring onions, crumbled feta, frozen peas, chunks of cheddar, seasoning and tarragon, gently combining making sure it’s evenly seasoned.  Be  careful to not over crumble the feta (you’ll taste it more if you get bigger bits)! Next transfer the filling into the pie dish and coat the edges of the pastry with the egg wash (whisked egg) then place the lid on top, pressing the edges together with your fingers or a fork sealing the pie.

With a knife make a small cut in the middle of the pastry right down to the bottom of the dish then coat the lid with the egg wash and you’re good to go.

Place in a preheated oven on 190 degrees Celsius and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the pastry turns golden. The sweet potato should still be warm when adding it so it shouldn’t take too long to cook.

TIP - This pie is also great served the next day and can be frozen if you’ve made too much.

Serve with Gravy and extra greens.

YUM