Vegetable Pies

These should in all honesty be called “Clean Out the Fridge Pies” but Vegetable Pies sound so much better. And if truth be told they really are just collapsed veggie souffles but so tasty that making them, waiting for them to collapse and packing them for your lunch box or picnic makes perfect sense.

After the two weeks of eating like a king while we were shooting in France I am trying to make a concerted effort to eat a bit cleaner. But I have gone straight on to another project where we are shooting food 4 days of the week, so dinner is left overs from the day’s shoot. Which meant I have had a head of cauliflower, pack of baby marrows and half a packet of baby spinach giving me the evil eye every time I open the fridge.

I wanted to put my own spin on a souffle I had before which by the time I wanted to eat it, had already cooled down and sunk, so I tipped it out of the ramekin and ate it as a pie. It stuck with me that souffles are always this mad rush to make and serve but they taste really good at room temperature as a light meal.

These will be a hit with the vegetarians, the LCHF followers and the gluten frees. But I can guarantee you that those of us who do not follow any of these regimens will be very happy too. Even the most ardent meat eaters will feel satisfied. Pack them for lunch, take them with on your next picnic, have them for breakfast or serve them as a light dinner with a cup of soup for the autumn chill.

A reminder that we have set a second date for our Food Photography Workshop. You can join us on 14 June for a fun filled creative day with your camera. Click here for more details.

Vegetable Pies

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Ingredients

  

• butter for ramekins
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 clove garlic finely chopped
• 350 g baby marrows/zucchini grated
• 100 g baby spinach
• pinch of paprika
• pinch of grated nutmeg
• 400 g cooked cauliflower mashed
• 6 eggs separated
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

 

• Generously butter 4 one and half cup ramekins.
• Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C.
• Melt the butter and gently fry the garlic until soft.
• Add the grated baby marrows/zucchini and spinach and cook for about 10 minutes, while stirring occasionally until soft.
• Mix in the paprika, nutmeg and mashed cauliflower.
• Beat the egg yolks with the cheese and mix in the vegetables.
• Beat the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until stiff.
• Add a third of the egg whites to the vegetable mixture and mix well.
• Gently fold in the rest of the egg whites until just combined.
• Pour the mixture into the ramekins and bake for 30 - 35 minutes until puffed up and golden.
• Serve immediately or let it cool down for 10 minutes or so, gently tip out of the ramekins and eat at room temperature as a pie.

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