The Secret Ingredient To Making Vegetables Taste Hearty

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Random Vegetable Pie

This should read ‘Warming Winter Vegetable Pie’, but of course it’s actually made up of whatever was in my fridge. Courgette and parsnips? In you go!

But what do you do when you want that delicious, hearty taste you associate with slow -cooked meat , when you’re trying to be more veg? Salads, roasted veg, grilled veg and sautees are all incredible, but on cold, dark nights, sometimes you’re just looking for that comfort and warmth from a meat-based dish.

Well read on to find my secret ingredient. You won’t know it’s there, but it adds a depth of flavour and when added to vegetables like mushrooms or potatoes, it does a pretty good job of ticking that Unami box.

This filling can be topped with pastry, potatoes, dumplings or nothing at all, but it’s got that wintery, stew-y vibe that makes me think of winter, England and Christmas.

Ingredients:

1 courgette

1 aubergine

1 parsnip

1 carrot

3 potatoes

1 onion

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp cumin

2 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick

salt and pepper to taste

AND….

1 tbsp Marmite - GAME CHANGER

1 tsp Worcester Sauce - GAME CHANGER

For the pastry - from BBC Good Food

225g plain flour

100g butter

Method:

Filling

  • Dice veg, slice onions, chop garlic.

  • Sautee onion in hot oil until translucent, add garlic.

  • When onion mix is all sizzling, add 1 tsp cumin, bay leaves and cinnamon stick.

  • Add cubed carrots, potatoes and parsnips. Cover with boiling water. Add a stock cube if you have one. Add Marmite and Worcester Sauce.

  • Leave on a low heat for half an hour to cook the potatoes and carrots before adding the softer veg which takes less time to cook (i.e the courgettes, aubergines)

Whilst that’s going, make your pastry as below - from BBC Good Food.

Pastry:

STEP 1

  • Sift 225g plain flour into a large bowl, add 100g diced butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. [I couldn’t be bothered to sift].

  • STEP 2

    Stir in a pinch of salt, then add 2-3 tbsp water and mix to a firm dough.

  • STEP 3

    Knead the dough briefly and gently on a floured surface.

  • STEP 4

    Wrap in cling film and chill while preparing the filling.

Once you’ve made your pastry and it’s chilling in the fridge, it’ll be time to add your soft veg - aubergines and courgettes to the stew. Leave on a low heat for another half hour - 40 mins or so.

Once the veg is all cooked through, let it cool for a while before topping with pastry.

Assembling your pies

I prefer to make individual pies because I get irrationally upset if I don’t get enough pastry in life, in general. Pastry:Filling ratio is an art, and a pot pie carries real risk of disappointment if you’re the last person to be served and you get that teeny token stamp of pastry by the time your portion’s dished up. You know what I mean…there’s a beautiful pie at the table, everyone’s oohing and aahing and the host starts serving it up. The first plate is a beauty. But despite your host’s best efforts, by the end there’s just filling on that last plate and before you know it, your host’s scraping bits of pastry off the dish and the spoon and anywhere else to compensate but alas. It’s too late. The best bits have gone and now it just looks like a crumble.

An individual pie in a little ramekin negates this risk. Another life hack from yours truly. YOU’RE WELCOME.

farhana rahman