British Pie Week is drawing to a close. This is
one of the more successful British food weeks, in part because it has
transcended its promotional origins (Jus-Rol Pastry, General Mills) to
take on a life of its own. There are pub pie promotions, for example, and
various pie-making competitions around the
My contribution to the blogosphere during
British Pie Week 2012 is an attempt at a Pieminister Courgette & Chickpea Filo Pie, from the recipe in Pieminister: a pie for all seasons
(Tristan Hogg and Jon Simon, 2011; pp. 94-95).
The recipe calls for onion wedges and courgette
slices to be cooked up in olive oil in a large frying pan. Garlic, freshly
chopped rosemary and thyme, and some chilli flakes are added, followed by a
drained tin of chickpeas and halved cherry tomatoes, chopped rosemary and
thyme, and some balsamic vinegar. This is all added to an ovenproof dish, with
olive oil-brushed filo pastry - “scrunch it up loosely so it looks like a rose”
– on top. This is an instruction that invites creative expression.
In my hurry to get started, I cut the red
onions up too finely. The recipe calls for wedges of red onion, which
effectively match the size of the courgette slices and halved cherry tomatoes.
I’ll get it right next time, as I will be doing this surprisingly tasty pie
again. During the summer, I will ramp up the fresh herb content with a selection
of thymes from the herb garden (only the rosemary out there at the moment). I’ll
also get more artistic with the filo.
The recipe suggests that the pie is good with
hummus. They’re right. I served the pie warm with some cooled home-made hummus
(another tin of chick peas, tahini paste, crushed garlic and the juice squeezed
from a big lemon) and a green salad.
I was going to say that most pies made this
week will be meaty, so I thought I would do something a little different by cooking
this vegan recipe. However, before posting this I noticed that Nicki of yourlastmouthful.com
fame (
After just a few recipes, I am inclined to
think that Pieminister: a pie for all
seasons is a good cookbook, in that you quickly start trusting the recipes
to deliver for you.
See also:
Pieminister: Homity Pie:
The Pieminister book:
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