VEGGIE RAINBOW PICNIC PIE RECIPE

It's National Vegetarian Week this week, so here's a delicious veggie picnic recipe that you can enjoy with friends and family this summer.

Eating vegetarian can be good for the environment and your health. Packed with veggies, feta and egg, this vegetarian pastry is part tortilla, part pie. Bursting with summer colours, it'll provide the wow factor at any picnic.

INGREDIENTS

Serves 12

450g butternut squash, peeled, sliced and cut into small chunks
2 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
1 large onion, sliced
550g small waxy potatoes, peeled and sliced
2 x 375g blocks all-butter puff pastry
flour, for dusting
1 x 320g ready-rolled sheet all-butter puff pastry
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
300g pack cooked beetroot, sliced
450g jar roasted red peppers, drained
200g block feta cheese
150g frozen peas
small bunch each parsley and mint, chopped
10 eggs
2 tbsp sesame seeds

METHOD

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Toss the squash in 1 tbsp oil and some seasoning and roast for 20 mins until soft. Meanwhile, fry the onion in the remaining oil for 10-15 mins over a low heat until golden and boil the potatoes for 8 mins until soft. Drain the potatoes and leave the veg to cool.STEP 2

Reduce oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line a 20cm x 30cm baking tin with a long double thickness strip of parchment (this will help you to lift out the pie once cooked). Squeeze the two blocks of pastry together, then roll out on a floured surface – the pastry should be about the thickness of a £1 coin. Use the pastry to line the tin, leaving any excess pastry hanging over the edges.

Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the base of the pastry. Layer in the beetroot slices, peppers, squash, onions, feta, potatoes, peas and herbs (in that order for a nice rainbow effect), seasoning well between each layer.

Beat the eggs and pour slowly over the filling until most of it has sunk through the layers, saving a little to glaze the top. Brush some egg over the overhanging pastry then lay the rolled pastry sheet on top. Press the pastry sheets together, then use some kitchen scissors to trim the excess pastry, leaving about 2cm. Roll the edges in to seal, then press them firmly with a fork.

Brush with egg, sprinkle with seeds, then use the fork prongs to mark out 12 portions. Bake for 1 hr 20 mins until the pastry is golden and crisp. Leave to cool completely before slicing, or chill for up to two days before serving. Enjoy!