Roasted Thai Vegetable Pie

If you've been onto my Facebook page recently you have probably heard about the competition I'm participating in. It's week 1 of the Pick 'n Pay Freshly Blogged challenge! 40 local food bloggers, including myself, were given a shopping list and a few days to create and photograph an original recipe using those ingredients. We were told that we could omit one of the ingredients on the list and add one of our own, as well as use ingredients from an "approved" pantry list which included standard items like olive oil, eggs, flour and the like.

The ingredients list read as follows: Findus Wok Thai vegetables (frozen), phyllo pastry, an orange, a pineapple, 2 minute noodles and ginger, garlic and dhania paste. I spent a couple of hours brainstorming (in fact I think I was dreaming about frozen vegetables too) and after bouncing backwards and forwards between three main ideas I settled on this one - a roasted Thai vegetable pie made with phyllo pastry.

Here in Cape Town we're in the grip of a cold spell at the moment, and while I love enjoying my favourite comfort foods over the winter season I also like to enjoy something lighter yet equally satisfying every once in a while - this inspired me to create this dish. 

I chose to leave out the noodles and include sweet Romanita tomatoes to balance the flavour of the pie filling and offset the sharp pineapple and zesty orange. I roasted the frozen veggies in the garlic paste to add flavour, and was very pleased with the result, it all came together beautifully.

The frozen vegetable selection I used for the challenge included carrots, peppers, baby corn, onion, and mushrooms - if you can't find the particular brand that I used then another similar selection should work just as well.

Cooks tip: remember that when you're working with phyllo pastry you need to work fairly quickly and keep the sheets covered in a damp tea towel to prevent them from drying out. You should also brush the sheets with melted butter before layering them in the tin as this keeps the layers separate as they bake.

Now for the important bit - if you like my recipe please hop onto the Freshly Blogged site and VOTE for me! There are prizes to be won so don't miss out, simply click here to cast your vote, thank you! 

_________________________

ROASTED THAI VEGETABLE PIE

Makes 1 large pie

500g Romanita tomatoes

100g fresh pineapple, cut into 1.5cm chunks

30 ml sunflower oil + extra for drizzling

salt and pepper 

5ml finely grated orange zest

3 teaspoons Pick 'n Pay garlic, ginger and dhania paste
500g Findus Wok Thai vegetables

100g butter

6 sheets phyllo pastry

2 large eggs

Step 1.) Heat your oven to 200°C and grease a 23cm springform tin.

Step 2.) Halve the Romanita tomatoes lengthways and arrange in a single layer with the pineapple chunks on a baking tray. Drizzle with sunflower oil, season with salt and pepper and roast for 25 minutes until softened and the tomato skins are starting to wrinkle and crack.

Step 3.) Combine 30ml sunflower oil, orange zest and garlic, ginger and dhania paste in a bowl and mix well. Add the frozen vegetables and toss well to coat them in the oil.

Step 4.) Transfer the roasted tomatoes and pineapple to a large bowl, then spread the frozen veggies on the same tray and season with salt and pepper. Pop the tray in the oven for 15 minutes.

Step 5.) While the veggies are roasting you can prepare your pie crust. Melt the butter then brush some onto a sheet of phyllo pastry. Carefully press this into the greased tin butter side up, allowing the excess pastry to hang over the edges.

Step 6.) Brush another sheet of phyllo with melted butter and place this in the tin over the previous sheet. Repeat this with the remaining phyllo sheets, brushing each one with melted butter and placing them all at different angles so that the excess pastry is hanging over on all sides.

Step 7.) When the vegetables have finished roasting tip them into the same bowl as the tomato and pineapple. Whisk the eggs lightly with a fork, then pour over the vegetables and gently toss everything together.

Step 8.) Tip the vegetables into the pie dish and flatten into an even layer. Gently fold the excess pastry hanging over the edge onto the top of the filling - it doesn't have to be neat and you can let the pastry stay where it falls.

Step 9.) Brush the top of the pie with melted butter and pop in the oven for 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Allow the pie to cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan, then cut carefully into wedges and serve.