Layered Filo Pie with Sweet Potato, Puy Lentils and Cashew Cream
After a long walk with Mum and a ride on the Ffestiniog Highland Train it was time for a pie, but not just any old pie though. A wonderful day demands wonderful pie and this one has been on my mind ever since I read the recipe.
This layered filo pie will suit any special occasions and satisfy all loved ones, especially those who are still skeptical about the whole vegan approach. Get on board, try this pie, eat more nut cheese! The cashew cream is the real star here, adding bags of creaminess and that ‘something a bit different’ that I love in any recipe. This is not our first play with cashews and it also makes a very respectable cheese, although denser in texture, cashew cheese would also make a great layer for this kind of pie.
The inspiration for this magic pie came from the brilliant Becky over at Veg Hot Pot, a blog for anybody who likes tasty food cooked with heart and soul. Becky is attracted to big flavours and gorgeous looking food. Cheers Becks!
We have of course tampered with the original and added some of our favourite bits (we’ve just made one with lime zest, smoked paprika and a spinach layer…..but we digress……) We have added roast peppers and sweet potato instead of the delicious sounding roast carrots, we have used sage to flavour the sweet potatoes, because I love that little combo of green ‘erb and funky orange spud. There is also a tablespoon of tomato paste in the puy lentils, this is a rich tart and the tomato lifts things a little.
I love giving meat eaters a run for their money in the flavour stakes, this meets and beats any meaty creation in Christendom (it is Easter after all!). The look of the pie will make jaws drop; cook it for an Uncle who has gravy on his corn flakes or that boyfriend who cannot omit meat from any plate of food. I’d love to hear the response from that crew?! Let me know….
The filo adds a nice crunch here, its a great thin pastry for making a guaranteed crisp pie base. I very rarely buy pastry, but this is a no-brainer. Filo sits there quite happily until called upon.
Mum’s comment after pie for dinner tonight whilst holding her belly:
‘Blimey Lee, I feel like I’ve had a pie!’
This pie is magical in so many ways, mainly because of its versatility. You can play around with the flavours and layers and the potential combinations are mind boggling.
Recipe makes two individual pies, more than enough for two good folk. If you are eating the pie with vegetables, half a pie is more than enough per person.
Layered Filo Pie
The Bits
1 big sweet potato (cubed)
2 fat cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1 red pepper (cut into thick flattish slices)
1 onion, (finely diced)
2 small leeks (finely chopped)
1 cup soaked cashew nuts (overnight)
4 sheets of filo pastry
1 teas dried sage
250g puy lentils
glugs of vegetable oil for frying.
Do It
Turn on your fan oven, 200oC.
Sort out your lentils, either cook them or open the can. Cooked fresh is of course best (follow pack instructions). Normally cover with an inch of water, bring to the boil and simmer for 30-40 mins. They should be completely soft, but not mushy. At this stage stir in your tomato paste and heat through.
Toss your sweet pots in oil and sage and roast for 15 minutes, until soft and slightly golden. Remove and cover. Leave for 10 minutes then mash. Whilst that is going on, add your peppers to the oven and roast for 10-15 mins until becoming slightly charred.
Rinse your cashew nuts and place in a food processor with half a cup of water and a pinch of salt and blitz for 5 minutes until creamy and thick, the texture of hummus is good.
In a frying pan, add a tablespoon of oil and begin to fry your onions off on a medium heat. Get them nice and golden, we’re looking for nice sweetness here, then add your leeks and garlic, cook for a further 10 minutes on a low/ medium heat. All should be very soft indeed. Then add you cashew cream and stir well together.
All layer ingredients can be made well in advance and refrigerated.
Take two small ovenproof dishes, or pie dishes approx 5 inch diameter by 2 inch deep. Oil them up ready for action.
Use filo straight from the fridge and brush oil over each layer, use three layers for each base. Spoon in your layers starting with sweet potato, then peppers layed out, then lentils and finally the cashew cream mix. Make sure all layers are pressed snugly into the corners of the pie, giving a distinct layered look and good full shape to the pie.
Pop them in the oven and check after 10 minutes, the pastry may get a little dark. If so, place tin foil over the pies.
Cook for 25-35 minutes, until the bases are nicely golden and crisp.
Lovely layers
Serve
Leave to rest for a couple of minutes in the dish then pop out onto a wire rack to cool and settle for 5 minutes. Then mange! We had ours with a tomato chutney and it was a tasty feast.
We Love It!
This is a rich tart and very nicely segregated, it looks a million dollars! The cashew cream works fantastically well, it browns a little and gives a fantastic creamy texture. Who needs cheese!
Foodie Fact
Cashews are not devoid of calories, but we’d be a sorry state without enough fuel! Some people I’ve met on raw food diets etc have warned me off cashew nuts, but in a world riddled with vices and food fads, I hardly think the odd cashew nut will push me over the calorific edge. A roasted cashew is a thing of beauty and grows on trees. They also contains plenty of vitamins, minerals and a hefty dollop of fibre.
beach house kitchen 
This looks really great.
It is a really tasty treat. Happy days, lee and janex
Looks incredible & yummy, another dish to put on my “to make list”, thanks! 😉
Bet that’s a long list Yolanda! Ours is more a book, but we are glad we made it around to this pie, it was very YUM. Happy days, lee and janex
Your recipes are quite unique, they should be published. And yes my list is very long. 😉
Thanks for that Y. Happy cooking
Mmm, looks amazing. I can’t wait to try it. One question: (since you have obviously eaten this before) could you recommend a substitution for the cashew cream due to a severe food allergy?
Thanks for trying my pie 🙂 love the twists you added I will definitely try it with sweet potato and sage, they sound like a match made in heaven! Thanks again 🙂 made my day! Xx
You’re a superstar Becky. We’ll be nicking loads more of your recipes soon!!!! They’re toooo tasty. Love and Happiness, lee and janex
perfect for cold weather like we are having
Very true and a hearty pie that will sit nice and warm in the belly. Give it a go! Stay cosy, lee and janex
that is an awesome looking pie 🙂
Cheers Lucy, its tastes mighty fine too! Have great times, lee
I can’t believe it…vegan! I don’t even have to wrap my addled brain around coverting anything in this gorgeous creation. I now know what I am having for tea tonight and I might just serve it to Steve as well because this looks amazing :). Kudos on a fantastic recipe and a wonderful place by the sea. We live just around the corner from the sea on the river so we get the best of both worlds :).
Sounds like magic land indeed. We have a farm of sorts, we have a stray cat, persistent sparrows and a windswept garden. Thats it though, its a work in progress. Small steps towards some form of sustainability and many smiles. Have good ‘uns, lee
Sounds like our own path. We inherited 4 acres of wasteland jungle with banana passionfruit 50ft up in the eucalyptus tree canopy and more blackberries than you could shake a prickly stick at and thank GOODNESS Steve and I just finished studying horticulture or we might have just hidden under our beds in the foetal position and sold the place. We are learning so much from hands on penniless hippy solutions and it is certainly teaching us to think outside the box! The net is a brilliant way to find free/cheap solutions for all of our needs and there are some amazing blogs out there that share precious goldmine information. It’s great to meet fellow green travellers who are trying to do their bit for their own little piece of paradise :). We have feral cats here that wax and wane and that keep us free of mice, rats, rabbits and anything else smaller than a ferocious possum (they eat baby possums but can’t handle the huge brushtails). I wouldn’t try to cuddle one of them though, I like the skin intact on my arms ;). Our “farm” is entirely and very loosely created. We have 30+ chooks (Aussie word for chickens) that are all sulking and not producing eggs at the moment. They are VERY lucky that I am a vegan as otherwise they might all be gracing our freezer as I type this ;). That’s what you learn when you live in the country and attempt to interact with nature and domesticated nature… nature has a personality and its quirky as hell! Forgedabout taming it, you just try to do your level best to survive it and you are ahead ;). Have a great weekend and enjoy your gorgeous spring weather. We are loving our autumn weather as we had a horrible hot dry summer that almost did us in but we have some great ideas for dry proofing the garden and planting out lots of food trees (hazelnuts, walnuts, avocados, figs, mangos and chestnuts) that we grew from seed and “found” growing (the figs were suckers from a larger neglected tree that struck and we dug up). This country adventure lark is excellent fun 🙂
This all sounds like a right hoot in the jungle. We’re more heather and bog with the occasional wind swept tree and sheep. We are making good steps though and have a magic base in the Beach House. We’re halfway up a hill in Snowdonia, some of the most beautiful mountains I’ve ever clapped eyes on. We are lucky with landscape but a little sketchy with weather. We spend some of the year in Spain and love the contract of barren red desert and dripping green lands. We plan on planting some rare apple trees this year and just hope they dont blow away. Take it easy, you are truly inspiring. Peace and light, lee
UK! Excellent 🙂 Steve is from the UK and Tassie is about as UK as Australia gets ;). We aren’t known as the apple isle for nothing. We are off to walk the dogs in Deviot today. It’s got a small community heritage apple and pear orchard that rocks. Glad to be following a great UK blog, makes a change from the U.S. blogs 🙂
Viva UK! The green islandx You may also like my other blog, a little different from the BHK. Its http://www.leroywatson4.wordpress.com. Hope to see you on the turtle soon! Peace, lee
I love the Terry Pratchett Discworld ethos of riding along on the back of Atuin supported by 4 gargantuan elephants and own the Discworld series so that whenever I feel a need to dissolve into someplace that makes pure sense I can ;). Off to check out your other blog now… 🙂
I have never read Terry, but I have friends who swear by discworld. It does seem like more than just a book, like some altered reality. Check this Atuin guy out: http://static.tumblr.com/85162f4de9b1f1e4e4422a476a6601ba/rzr0htk/rqHmjz6fg/tumblr_static_url.jpg
Magical stuff there for sure. I love this image and will be sticking it on the ‘riding effortlessly…’ blog in your honour. The actual name came from a Zen buddhist koan, or an interpretation of a koan/ transmission from one chap to another. But Atuin is a wonderful vision, turtle swim so beautifully. Peace and happiness, lee
AWESOME! And now my desktop background :). Terry is an enigma and the Discworld series is incredibly worth reading :). Cheers for the pic by the way 🙂
I may give it a whirl, I’ll add it to the shelves of books that one day I will/ may read. Its a wonderful things to behold, all those wonderful words unknown.
Discworld books are worth reading. Not like those leather bound tombs that are there for the sake of increasing our visual appeal ;). You will never regret reading a Discworld book…I didn’t…I own them all 🙂
If this picture is anything to go by, I may well be heading that way. Peace to Taz and you all
Ditto to Wales 🙂 Steve was born in Liverpool so knows where you live well 🙂
What an amazing, fantasticly tasty recipe! I love it so much! My dinner for me & my husband tomorrow! ooh yes!
Enjoy! Let us know how you get on with it. You can play around with the layers, its just great to have it all wrapped up in filo. Happy days, lee and janex