This is wholesome comfort food in its highest form. This pie has a flaky, crispy topping but a warming and hearty filling that's fragranced with a delicious blend of spices. Served with a really quick and easy sautéed okra side dish, it's the perfect winter warmer and is seriously nutritious.
Ingredients (for a pie with 4 large servings):
3 medium sweet potatoes
260g bag of fresh spinach
1 can chickpeas
1 large white onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
Handful fresh coriander
6 x 45g filo pastry sheets
2 Tbsp rapeseed oil
For the sautéed okra (serves 4):
350g fresh okra, trimmed and cut into 1-2cm pieces
2 Tbsp rapeseed oil
1 large white onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 fresh tomatoes, diced
1 red chilli, finely chopped
2 tsp ground coriander seeds
Handful fresh coriander to serve
Method:
Preheat your oven to 180C. Meanwhile, peel and chop the sweet potato into 2cm cubes, drop into a pan of boiling water, and boil for 8 minutes or until tender but slightly under-done. Then drain them and set aside. Heat 1 Tbsp of the oil in a large pan and sauté the onion for 5 minutes until beginning to soften. Then add the crushed garlic, fresh ginger, mustard seeds, ground coriander, cumin, garam masala, and turmeric, and cook gently to release the aromas for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Then add the spinach and continue to sauté until wilted. Roughly mash the sweet potato with a fork until just some chunks remain, then stir this in to the spinach mixture along with the drained chickpeas, lemon juice and fresh coriander. This is now your pie filling.
Lightly brush a 9-inch pie dish with some of the remaining rapeseed oil, then layer one filo sheet in the dish. Lightly brush this sheet with some oil, then layer another sheet at a right angle to the first. Repeat with two more sheets, both at 45 degree angles to the first. Then tip in your pie filling and press down so it fills the dish evenly. Fold the overhanging filo sheets over the pie filling and scrunch up on the top. Also scrunch up the two remaining filo sheets and add to the top of the pie so the top is entirely covered with scrunched filo, and brush this with oil too. Cook the pie for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden and crispy.
Meanwhile, to make the sautéed okra, heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion for about 5 minutes until beginning to soften. Then add the garlic, okra, tomatoes, and chilli, and continue to fry, stirring gently. The okra will release a sticky substance initially but keep cooking and this will disappear and the tomatoes will begin to break down. After about 10 minutes, add the ground coriander and a splash of water and continue to cook for a further 15 minutes, until the okra is tender and the flavours have infused.
Nutrition (per quarter pie with quarter of the okra):
Protein: 14.6g (Women: 29.2% / Men: 26.5%)
Iron: 4.4mg (Women: 29.7% / Men: 38.9%)
Calories: 542 (Women: 27.1% / Men: 21.7%)
Sugar: 12.2g (Women: 13.6% / Men: 10.2%)
Total Fat: 17.0g (Women: 24.3% / Men: 17.9%)
Saturated Fat: 1.3g (Women: 6.5% / Men: 4.3%)
Salt: 1.1g (Women: 18.3% / Men: 18.3%)
Fibre: 13.0g (Women: 43.3% / Men: 43.3%)
See the Nutrition Info page for more details on % of Dietary Reference Values for men and women.