Sunday, October 20, 2013

Individual Potato Pies with Puff Pastry



Individual potato pies with puff pastry - Great for vegetarians too

A delicious idea for savoury pies which they can be served as a snack, a first dish or to pack up and take with you to a picnic. Herbs and vegetables in these pies are the key ingredients giving such a great taste




Ingredients (for 6 pies):
2 puff pastry sheets, thawed out
1,5Kg of potatoes, skin on
3-4 medium leeks, finely chopped (both white and green part)
1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 red Florina pepper from a jar (or a red bell pepper), finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 tbsp of fresh spearmint, finely chopped
pepper
salt
pinch of oregano
1 tea-cup of olive oil
1 lemon, the juice
1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp of water
sesame seeds (optional)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lay a shallow baking dish with baking paper.

Boil the potatoes in plenty of salted water until they are quite soft.

In the meantime, in a heavy-bottomed frying pan, warm the oil in medium heat and sauté the leeks and the green pepper until they get soft.

When the potatoes are ready, drain and let them cool for a while. Then peel them, transfer them back in the pot and mash into a purée. Add, gradually, the oil and the lemon juice while stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture is loosened up. Then add the leek and pepper mixture, the herbs and season with salt and pepper. Mix well the ingredients to blend.

Using a cookie cutter make 6 discs out of the first pastry sheet and place them in individual moulds of equal size (or as they are on the baking dish). Brush each disc with some oil and equally spoon the filling on the centre of each disc.

Do the same with the second pastry sheet having again 6 discs of the same size and brush with some oil. Place them (oiled side down) on top of the filling on each pie. Press the edges all around to seal the filling and with a sharp knife gently score the pies in a radial mode (see photo). Carefully transfer them on the baking dish, brush on top with the egg wash and sprinkle with the sesame seeds if used.

Put in the oven and bake for 1 hour until the pastry is risen and nicely golden brown. Take out of the oven, let them stand for a few minutes and then serve.
Amateur Cook Professional Eater

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