Minestrone Pasties

So, what do you cook, when you’ve still not gone shopping and your cupboards are bare and the only thing in the kitchen is laying at the bottom of the fridge forgotten about: Celery, Celeriac, Swede, Parsnip and Carrot. After what seemed many minutes of contemplation I came up with the idea of minestrone pasties. I made a basic vegan pastry and filled it with the vegetables I found in the bottom of our fridge! Now the only vegetables hubby likes are carrot, cauliflower, potato, onion and green pepper, but when dining out he has been known to have minestrone soup, strange but true. For this reason only, I called them minestrone pasties and served them with gravy. Now everyone knows how to make pastry right? I just substituted the fat with Vitalite (a vegan friendly margarine). For the filling this is what I did:

INGREDIENTS
3-4 cups diced mixed vegetables*

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2-3 tbsp vegetable stock
1 tsp sage
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp flour
1/4 cup soy milk

Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD
Cook diced mixed vegetables in a saucepan of boiling water (salted if desired) and boil until soft and still keeping their shape. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking process and drain once more.

Fry the diced onion, celery and garlic in the olive oil until translucent, add the stock in batches and reduce each time.

Sprinkle over the herbs and flour and stir until all combined and cook through over a low heat for a minute.

Add the soy milk stirring constantly, the mixture will thicken. Once the mixture is to your desired consistency add the drained vegetables and stir until all is combined.

Leave the mixture to cool a little before adding to the pastry. I cut out discs using an upturned bowl and added a little filling to the middle before folding the pastry over to form a pasty shape. Wet the edges with a little soy milk to help them stick and press a fork into the edge to make a pretty indentation.

Bake in an oven about 180°C for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

* I didn't weigh the vegetables (doh!) but I reckon there were about 4 cups worth.

The verdict – Hubby had one and asked for another – unbelievable!