This ticks all my Vegetarian Christmas boxes. It is substantial enough to fill me up (who wants a tiny tower of rice or a goat’s cheese salad on Christmas day? Not I!) and happily sits alongside all the traditional trimmings although I’m not sure Stilton goes with gravy so I omit the cheese of loveliness if I want to pour some of the brown stuff over my dinner. If I don’t, cranberry and port sauce or a madeira and mushroom drizzle make a lovely accompaniment instead!
I’ve added a little chilli kick, some thyme and a hefty dose of garlic because I think big flavours are important on the Big Day but if you are not a chilli fan, or you have some sensitive palates to feed, you can leave it out or replace it with a grind or two of black pepper to taste. I don’t add salt when I’m cooking with Stilton because I think it’s salty enough but do taste and adjust to your needs with a splash of soy sauce or a sprinkle of salt if you wish!
This recipe serves two people generously but easily multiplies up to feed as many as you have the dish to handle. It is the sort of pie entrenched meat eaters cannot resist so make a small one if you just want to make them drool a bit or make one large enough to share if you’re feeling generous – it is Christmas after all!
This pie appears in various guises, I always keep mushrooms, chestnuts and Stilton as the base flavours but sometimes add vegetarian sausages, sometimes put the sprouts into the pie and sometimes add a few butterbeans into the mix. Sage or rosemary replace thyme and a splash of port jazzes things up a bit – it’s as versatile and creative as your imagination allows it to be.
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Sweet Potato Pie with Chestnuts and Stilton
Ingredients
- One red onion peeled and finely chopped
- 150 g chestnut mushrooms cut into large chunks
- 100 g whole cooked, peeled chestnuts
- 1 large orange fleshed sweet potato peeled and chopped into chunks
- 50 g vegetarian Stilton crumbled
- 2-3 cloves of garlic peeled and finely chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp fresh thyme finely chopped
- ½ - 1 tsp dried chilli flakes optional
- 200 g ready made puff pastry
- My dish is oval and measures 20cm at its longest 15 across its width and has a depth of 6cm but please don't get too hung up on precise sizes for this one!
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200°C, 400°F, Gas Mark 6
- Fry your onion gently in the olive oil until just softened
- Boil the sweet potato in water for about 6-8 minutes until just fork tender
- Add the mushrooms and chestnuts to your onions and continue to fry for about 5 minutes until the mushrooms are browned and have released their juices
- Add the garlic and sweet potato along with the thyme and chilli flakes to your mushroom mixture, stir well and cook for another minute
- Turn off the heat and stir your stilton into the mixture
- Leave to cool a little while you prepare your pastry
- Lightly grease your dish and roll your pastry out until it is slightly larger than you need. Put your dish on the pastry and press down lightly to leave an imprint. Cut around the resulting imprint with a sharp knife.
- Use a star or holly shaped cutter to cut out enough shapes from the pastry to make your pie lid look nice and festive! Place your filling into your dish, top it with your pastry lid and brush with a little milk.
- Pop your stars on top, brush with a little more milk and put into the oven for 25-30 minutes until browned and puffy.
Ooh that sounds yummy! Have given it a pin so I can try it! X
Thanks for pinning Sonya! It’s a good un, no doubt about it!
This looks absolutely gorgeous, Chris. Such a nice idea for Christmas lunch.
Thank you! And thank you for popping by and taking the time to comment 🙂
Thank you! x
That looks just what you need on a wild windy night like last night. Fire on, glass of something red and inky and this pie. Heaven. Elinor x
Yes! I need to make it again now just so I can do exactly that! x
Oh wow this looks and sounds so good! I will be pinning this on my to try list! We have started to eat more meat free meals during the week and only have 2 meals with meat during the working week and we really have been enjoying reducing our meat intake. This sounds like a pie that they will all love! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
Thanks for popping by! It’s a fabulous pie, enjoy!
Ooh this looks fantastic! I agree with wanting something for Christmas that goes well with the rest of the trimmings. Love the sound of adding veggie sausages too!
I like that we can ring the Christmas changes as veggies but I also like a bit of tradition – my kids always insist on cheese and lentil loaf on Christmas Day but I also cook up something with nuts because you really can’t beat a good nut roast with all the trimmings!
Love the sound of this, especially as sweet potatoes and chestnuts are two of my favourites! Happy Christmas 🙂 xx
Hoorah! And a very Happy Christmas to you too lovely lady – maybe 2016 will see us managing a meet!
There was me hunting for a veggie dish to take to my sisters house on boxing day, and you had it all they time! Although my penicillin allergy will mean I need a different kind of cheese! I’m thinking crumbly lancashire!
Am I not always your first port of call Mary?! 😉 Crumbly Lancashire or oozy Brie would both work well – or even, maybe, a little Applewood smoked cheddar!
That sounds so delicious and I love the little stars on top of the pie.