Vegan Christmas Pies

prep: 20 mins / cook: 50 mins / inactive: 30 mins / total: 1 hour 40 mins / quantity: 12 mini vegan christmas pies

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Start by making the pastry - put the flour and spread into a medium bowl and combine the two by rubbing them together between your fingertips. Do this just until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs
2. Add 2 tblsp cold water and mix together until it starts to form a dough - add another tblsp water (or more) if the mixture is too dry. You want to knead it as little as possible, just enough to bring it all together
3. Wrap the dough in foil or cling film and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. The pastry can also be made in advance and stored in the fridge or freezer. Just thoroughly defrost before using
4. While the dough is chilling make the filling - peel the parsnips and cut into small chunks, cutting round the hard, woody stem and discarding it. Put the parnsip chunks into a large frying pan
5. Peel the sweet potato and cut into small chunks and add those to the pan with a splash of water
6. Cover with a lid and cook over a medium heat for 10-15 minutes until just starting to soften, give an occasional stir being careful with the steam when lifting the lid
7. While they're cooking, peel the onion and garlic and very finely chop the onion and crush the garlic
8. Remove the lid and add the onion, garlic, chestnuts, pine nuts, thyme, rosemary, mustard and stock cube and give everything a really good stir then cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently
9. Wilt in the spinach and add a good pinch of salt and pepper
10. Turn off the heat and stir in the vegan cheese. Set the pan aside while you roll out the pastry
11. Preheat the oven to 160 Fan / 180 C / 350 F / Gas 4 and brush the insides of 12 hole muffin tray with vegan spread, oil or spray oil. Dust each muffin hole with a little flour and shake out the excess. This just helps the little pies release easily from the tin
12. Remove the pastry from the fridge and on a floured work surface, roll out the pastry till it’s about the thickness of a £1 coin. Remember to turn the dough frequently as you roll to help prevent the pastry sticking to the table.
13. Using a 3 1/4 inch (8 1/2 cm) round cutter, cut 12 circles and gently ease each one into your muffin tin, pushing the pastry down into the corners – you can use a little nub of excess pastry to push the pastry into the holes
14. Then using a 2 3/4 inch (7 cm) round cutter, cut another 12 circles (re-rolling the pastry as necessary) Set those aside while you fill!
15. Pack the filling into your little pies as tight as you can, gently pushing down so you can get as much filling in as possible. Once you’ve filled them all place on the lids pushing down gently
16. If you have any extra pastry and a decorative cutter you can cut out shapes to put on the top of your pies - adhere with a little water
17. Bake for 45-50 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool for a few minutes in the tin to firm up then gently remove
18. Serve warm or leave to cool on a wire rack then store in an airtight container in the fridge
19. To reheat, put into a hot oven (180 Fan) for 20-30 minutes making sure the centers are piping hot

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