Impress non-meat-eaters around the Christmas table

As South Africans, having a braai or roast or any form of meat on the Christmas table is a must – but not all South Africans eat meat.

Those who don’t eat meat are often sidelined and shoved off with a helping of salad or side-dish vegetables. Make things interesting for your non-meat-eating guests by serving them something special.

However, specifically cooking for non-meat-eaters might lead to food wastage which is why the following recipe will solve all of your vegetarian problems.

Individual Christmas pies

What you need:

Filling

• 200g thinly sliced leeks

• 25g butter

• 100g finely chopped mushrooms

• 4 pinches ground mace

• 4 pinches thyme and an extra sprig for decoration

• 100g grated potato

• 100g tinned puy or green lentil, drained and rinsed

• 100g finely chopped cooked chestnut

• 8 tablespoons double cream

• 4 tablespoons dried cranberries

• 1 beaten egg for glazing

• 2 teaspoons of redcurrant jelly

Pastry

• 200g plain flour

• 100g light vegetarian suet

• 8 tablespoons milk

• 4 individual-sized ramekins or similar containers

Method:

Filling

Fry leeks in butter until soft, add mushrooms, mace and thyme. Stir in the potato, lentils, chestnuts and cream.

After cooking these ingredients together for about 4 minutes, take off the heat and stir in 4 tablespoons of dried cranberries.

Pastry:

Process the flour, suet and 1 teaspoon of salt in a food processor until the mixture is smooth. While still blending, add the milk one spoon at a time until the pastry comes together.

Roll out a quarter of the pastry on a lightly floured surface, and cut out four pastry lids, using a ramekin or similar dish for a size guide. Use a small star cutter to cut out a star from each lid, then keep stars and lids covered with cling film.

Cut four strips of baking paper and use butter to stick them in each pie dish so the ends stick out. This will make it easier to remove the pies.

Use the rest of the pastry to line the pie dishes, leaving a bit of overlap at the edges. Divide the filling into four equal parts and place it in the pastry-lined dishes. Close the pies with the pastry lids. Using a fork, fold the overlap over the edges of the lids, and press down to seal the pies.

These pies can be frozen and served at a later stage. Once you decide to serve the pies, brush them with beaten egg and bake for 30 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius. Lift the pies out of their dishes and place them on a baking tray.

Mix 20 additional cranberries with the redcurrant jelly and spoon into the star-shaped holes on top of the pies. Brush pastry stars with beaten egg, add a small thyme sprig to each, then add to the pie baking sheet and put back in the oven for 5-10 mins, until pies and stars are golden and crisp. Top each pie with a star and serve.

The original recipe can be found on www.bbcgoodfood.com.

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