Squash and potato pie with braised red cabbage and mustard

I made this pie in the deep mid-winter but I think comfort foods like this are still appropriate when even the supermarket's daffodils are refusing to spring. Made with Jus-roll puff pastry, this would be a perfect weekend lunch for friends and will make enough for six servings.

Team up with the braised red cabbage, apples and onion recipe from way back in November for optimum comfort times, and of course a hefty dollop of English mustard for good measure.

Ingredients
Jus-roll puff pastry
1 onion, chopped into circles
1/4 gem squash, chopped into large chunks
2 carrots, chopped
2 handfuls of potatoes, peeled
2 bay leaves
500 ml stock
Vegetable or sunflower oil
Seasoning
A little soy milk for glaze

Sweat the onion rounds in a large saucepan with the oil, then add in the carrots, squash, potatoes, bay leaves and seasoning. Allow the vegetables just to start heating up before adding the stock and bringing to the boil.

Cook with a lid on for around 20 minutes, then 10 minutes off so the liquid can reduce and until all the vegetables are nice and soft and break apart easily. At this point you can pre-heat the oven to around 180 degrees Celsius.

Add a little more seasoning to taste for the pie filling, then remove the bay leaves and spoon into your pie dish.

Roll out the pastry and cover the pie dishes and seal with a fork edge, or however you fancy! I like to make tiny bite-size pastry rolls with any extras which are good for plying guests or housemates getting impatient about dinner! (To do this just roll out the extra scraps of pastry into a rectangle and spread anything you like- mango chutney, bbq sauce, even ketchup, across one side. Roll up into a swiss-roll shape and then cut into slices, then place on a tray and pop in the oven for about 10-15 minutes while the pie is cooking. Messy, sure, but tasty.)

Brush on a little soy milk on the top of the pies to add a glaze, and then cook in the oven for about 20-30 more minutes, until the pastry has risen and is a golden-brown colour.

In the mean time you can now prepare anything else to go alongside the pie and track down/beg/borrow/steal the strongest mustard you can find, which tastes perfect alongside the slightly sweet squash and flaky pastry.

Smashed sweet potato with basil and truffle oil

Anyone else in the UK still making curries, stews and pies despite it being July? Not a good look. 

Determined to add a bit of sunshine to SOMETHING, I've been making a few vegan dinners that look like summer, taste like winter. This smashed sweet potato is perfect to add with a vegan roast or pie, and will happily chill in the fridge for another day. 

The truffle flavouring actually comes from extra virgin olive oil flavoured with white truffle (so just extract). This means you can use a generous amount and not get an overpowering taste. Instead, this dish is just rich and full of vitamin C,vitamin B6, and a lot more health-giving than a common potato. 

Perfect with pie!

Ingredients

(Enough for two people)

2 large sweet potatoes, chopped into chunky cubes

1 tablespoon olive oil flavoured with white truffle

Loose handful of basil, chopped as fine as you want

If you're making a pie with this, get the pie in the oven first, and this can be done in the baking time.

Boil the sweet potatoes in salt water for about 15-20 minutes. Once they're over-done and squash with a little pressure from a fork, drain the water away and add the chopped basil and olive oil. Then put the lid on the saucepan and shake the pan for a few seconds. Shake until you have them smashed as much as you like. Your pie should be ready by now, so plate up!