Soft pie with vegan sweet potato dough

 

Wanna skip the small talk? Click here and go straight to the recipe!

Yesterday I was talking with my sister in law about my 3yo nice’s snacks. In her school they have a quick bite in the middle of the morning and it’s the first time she has to take food from home to school. For that we were discussing how hard work it can be to figure balanced food habits to our little ones, without forcing them to ear the same thing every single day.

And let me say that kids (wether they are our children, grandchildren, cousins, nephews, neighbours) are not the only ones we must think of. We all are entitled to eat well and not get bored with it. All that, without having to spend the life at the farmer’s market because, let’s face it, we all have better things to di, right? (and that’s coming from someone who looooooves wondering at the supermarket)

That’s when I thought about this sweet potato soft pie dough. It’s a super nice choice because you can make the same base and change the fillings and spices. And the best part of it is: you can freeze them! All you ought to do is make a load of dough, vary the fillings and freeze into individual portions (or a portion that’s the size of your family).

That’s only good coming out of it, right? Here, besides the dough (that can be made using any kind of potato) I suggested 2 types of filling, but, as I always say, don’t miss out on the opportunity to explore and get creative. Choose mixtures and ingredients that you like and enjoy!

Shall we get to the recipe?

 

 

Soft pie with vegan sweet potato dough

Ingredients

Dough

500g cooked sweet potato

Salt, pepper, rosemary

Filling – suggestion 1 “pizza” (veggie non vegan!)

2 diced tomatoes (with no seeds)

1/2 chopped red onion

1/2 cup of low fat diced soft cheese

1/3 cup olives (black or green) optional

Salt and oregano to taste

Filling – suggestion 2 (vegan)

1/2 cup of chopped kale

100g cherry tomato

1/4 chopped red onion

1/4 cup diced bell peppers

1 tea spoon curry (optional)

Salt, pepper, parsley and spring onion to taste

Filling – suggestion 3

WHATEVER YOU LIKE!

You can literally do ANYTHING! Tune, chicken, sausage, spinach, escarole, olives, broccoli, carrots, cheeses… Do explore mixtures and spices. Nothing is forbidden. If you want to to chocolate and strawberries and you think it might go well with the sweet potato dough… who am I to judge? lol 🙂

How to?

• Peel, chop and cook the sweet potato in boiling water. Remember that the smaller the pieces, the quicker it’ll cook. To check if it’s done, just stick a fork on the potatoes. You want them soft, but yet firm. Keep in mind that we’re not making soup.
• Drain the water and mash the potatoes with a fork as if you were going to do mashed potatoes. You can use a potato masher, if you have one, or even a hand mixer if you’re lazy. The ideia is to obtain a thin purée.
• Season it with salt, pepper and rosemary. If you don’t like rosemary you can change it for oregano, basil, thyme or even just do plain salt and pepper

Voilà, you’re done!

Yes, trust me. It’s over. That’s your pie dough. And let me tell you in advance that you can use any kind of potato you want. Imagine how pretty it’ll be with those gorgeous bright purple potatoes? And sure, me, the crazy pumpkin lady, already tried and it works wonders. Delicious.

 

It’s always the same. Cook the potato in boiling water till it’s soft, yet firm, mash and season it. Oh! And do allow yourself to get creative when it comes to spices. For instance, potatoes go really well with rosemary, pumpkins are great with nutmeg or even curry and, if you’re into some hot spices, you can try to change the regular black pepper to some chilly flakes.

• With the dough base ready it’s time to tackle the filling and, regardless of the one you choose the next step is as easy as it takes. All you ought to do is mix it all together on a big bowl, season it to taste, and it’s ready.

Do be aware to not use tomato seeds (if you chose to use tomatoes) to avoid its moist from changing the consistency of the pie.

• Blend it all together and put the mixture in a silicone baking tray. If you don’t have one, you can also use a cake pan with removable bottom covered in parchment paper ou just use any baking tray you have in hand. No worries if you don’t get to get your pie out of the pan. The important thing is for it to taste good and look nice.

• Let it bake in a pre-heated  oven (356°F) for about 30 minutes, until it’s firm and golden brown.

You can also bake them in muffin tins and freeze it, so you’ll have a nice snack of even part of a meal ready to go from the freezer to the oven.