Spinach & Mushroom Impossible Pie

The man of the house loves pies. A good vegetarian pie for a weekend lunch makes him always happy. My Shepard's pie is his favourite and this is his second most. This SPINACH & MUSHROOM IMPOSSIBLE PIE is the most easiest pie recipe you can ever make. Its so simple and when baked it beautifully forms a base and a crust on its own. The base is just breadcrumbs and the topping is an egg mixture with flour and milk. When baked the breadcrumbs form a crust in the bottom and the egg mixture fluffs up and holds the entire pie together. Its that simple! 

Pies are always great to make. You can use any leftover as filling. Any favourite veggies or meat  can be uses and it can be made according to your liking. 

I have used fresh home made breadcrumbs for the base. I really don't like the store bought ones. If you want to make home made breadcrumbs just take slices of 2 day old bread and place it in a food processor  / blender and pulse it few times. 

You Will Need:

For the Bottom Layer:

1 tbsp Oil, just regular refined oil will do

2 - 3 tbsps of Breadcrumbs, Store bought / Homemade

For the Spinach & Mushroom Layer:

1 Small Bundle Baby Spinach

1 cup of Button Mushrooms, Quartered

1 Small Onion, Finely Chopped

3 Cloves of Garlic, Grated

1/4 cup Crumbled Cottage Cheese / Paneer

1/2 Cup of Cheddar Cheese, Grated

1 tbsp Oil

Salt & Pepper to Season

For the Top Layer:

1/2 Cup of Plain Flour

3/4 tsp Baking Powder

1 tbsp of Unsalted Butter, Chilled

1 Cup of Milk

2 Large Eggs, Well Beaten

Any Herbs to Season, I used some Italian Seasoning & Chilli Flakes

Salt & Pepper to Season

The Cooking:

Step 1:

Take a baking dish approx. 1.5l. and grease the bottom with a tbsp of oil and sprinkle breadcrumbs evenly. Keep aside.

Step 2:

Blanch the spinach a little and squeeze out excess water and roughly chop. Heat a pan with oil and add the chopped onions and grated garlic. Saute for few mins till the onions are pin and translucent, then add the chopped mushrooms and saute for few mins. Then tumble in the spinach and saute breaking the clumps of spinach. Saute till all the mix is dry and season with salt & pepper. Take off heat and keep aside.

Step 3:

In  blender or a food processor  place the flour, baking powder & butter. Pulse it for few secs till the butter is mixed through and the mixture appears crumbly. Then pour in the milk, beaten eggs and season with salt, pepper & herbs. Blitz this for few more secs till everything is blended together. It will appear a little thick but still it will be runny.

Step 4:

Take the baking dish that has been crumb coated in the bottom previously. Place the spinach mixture on top of the breadcrumbs and spread evenly. Sprinkle the crumbled panner over the spinach mixture and top it off with grated cheese. Then slowly pour over the flour batter all over the cheese.

Place it in a pre heated oven at 180 degree Celsius and bake for 30 - 35 mins or until the pie has fluffed up, the top slightly browned and the pie set. Cool for 10 mins so that the pie sets well making it easier to get a nice clean slice.

Serve immediately hot or warm but not in room temperature. 

Recipe adapted from Tadka Pasta!

Happy Cooking!

Vegetarian

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Potato Mushroom Bake

I bet you are going to go scraping the baking dish and fighting for the little bits stuck to the bottom. That's what happens every time I bake this Creamy POTATO MUSHROOM BAKE. Thyme and basil are my two favourite herbs and they are just wonderful. But if you have not got fresh herbs, dried ones are absolutely fine. You can also use any seasoning you like pizza seasoning or Italian seasoning its just goes fine with it. You can serve this as a side or as main itself. 

Serves 3

You Will Need:

200g Mushrooms, Halved or Whole

A Kilo of Potato, Sliced Little Thickly 

Tbsp of Butter

Bread Crumbs to Sprinkle

2 tbsp of Grated Cheese 

For White Sauce:

2 tbsp of Butter

1 Heaped tbsp of Plain Flour

500ml of Whole Milk

2 tbsp Of your favourite Cheese

Salt to Taste

Pepper to Season

For Seasoning:

Dried Basil

Dried Thyme

Chili Flakes

Salt

The Cooking:

Preparing the Mushrooms:

Heat a pan with a knob of butter and tumble in the mushrooms. Keep the heat high throughout sautéing. Sprinkle salt, chilli flakes and dried herbs. Toss the mushrooms on high heat for couple of mins till they turn light brown colour. Transfer the mushrooms to a plate and let it rest.

Preparing the Potatoes:

Add the sliced potatoes in boiling water and let to cook till half done. Strain the potatoes and tumble them immediately on to the same pan you used to saute the mushrooms. Again keep the heat on high and sprinkle salt, chilli flakes and dried herbs tossing the potatoes till they are slightly browned on both sides. Take off heat and tumble this over the waiting mushrooms.

Preparing White Sauce:

Add oil / butter to a heavy bottom sauce pan and stir in the plain flour. Keep the heat low and saute the flour to form a smooth paste. Change to a whisk and start to pour in the milk gradually. Keep whisking to breakdown any lumps. Let this simmer over low heat and whisk occasionally till the sauce begins to thicken. Now season with salt and pepper. The sauce needs to be little thick and in pouring consistency.  Add the cheese and whisk for a min. If you find its too thick, thin it out with little milk. Or if too runny, add little flour. Once done take off heat and start assembling.

Tumble in the potatoes and mushrooms into a baking dish and then Pour over the white sauce, sprinkle over the bread crumbs and bake in a preheated oven for 30 mins (APPROX.) at 250c till the top is golden brown.

IMPORTANT POINTERS:

• Since you are using milk as the base for the sauce AVOID using any citrus ingredients. 

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Happy Baking!

Vegetarian

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Chicken Shepherd's Pie

SHEPHERD’S PIE is meat dish that is baked with creamy mashed potatoes as its crust. The pie was know as cottage pie in the 1700’s and basically made from any kind of leftover meat and it was in 1800’s that it was came be to known as Shepherd's pie regardless of the meant that goes in the dish. 

 This is a British classic and I adapted Jamie Oliver’s Shepherd Pie recipe. Well he wouldn't believe the number of changes I made to his recipe to suit my Indian palate. The ‘You Will Need’ list may look endless but trust me this is the easiest pie of all. I have just thrown in all my favourite veggies and chicken in the pie and added a little more spice to suite my palate. 

Doesn't he look gorgeous? Just a little fancy work ;) and all set to go into the oven.

Checkout the gravy oozing in the ends...ahhh....Slurp!!!

Like many first timers, I had my doubts on this recipe too that it may turn out too bland for my Indian taste buds. But the mixed veggies were perfect and the mashed potato was unbelievably soft and creamy when it came out of the oven. This was an instant hit at out dinner table. So Get creative, throw in your favourite veggies and meat and I promise you will love it just like we did.

You Will Need:

For the Gravy

350g of Minced Chicken
A tbsp of Plain Flour 

1/2 Cup of Cooked Green Peas

1/2 Bell Pepper, Chopped

1 Large Onion, Finely Chopped

2 Medium Carrots, Chopped

250g of Button Mushroom, Sliced

Cup of Tomato Puree ( 3 – 4 Large Tomatoes pureed)
2 tbsp of Tomato Ketchup / A tbsp of Tomato paste

1/2 Cup to A cup of Chicken Stock / Water
1/2 tsp of Dried Basil
1/2 tsp of Cumin Powder
1/2 tsp of Chilli Flakes
1/2 Tsp of Dried Thyme 

Freshly Crushed Black Pepper Corns

Salt to Taste

3 Tbsp Oil

For the Mashed Potato

5 Potatoes, Medium Sized

100 ml Whole Milk 

A knob of Butter

Salt & Pepper to Season

The Cooking:

Heat oil on a heavy bottom sauce pan and add the onions. Sauté for a min or two and add the carrot and bell pepper. Stir well and add in the minced chicken. Mix well and sprinkle the flour. The flour browns the meat and gives thickness to the gravy. Cook on medium high till the chicken turns little brown. Then add the mushrooms and saute till they turn golden brown. Pour in the tomato puree and stock / water. Add salt, pepper, cumin powder, chilli flakes, thyme and basil. Bring this to a boil and cook on medium low heat for another 20 – 25 min or till the excess water has evaporated and the gravy has thickened. 

Preheat your oven to 250c for 10  -15mins. 

For the Mashed potato, cook the potatoes until they are soft. Peel the skin off and place them in a bowl. Now mash them well. Slowly add the milk and butter mashing everything together. Season with salt and pepper. The mashed potatoes need to be smooth and not lumpy.

I have used my round cake tin to bake this pie. Round, square anything will do. Now, layer the bottom of the baking dish or pie dish with the gravy. Make sure they are nice and evenly spread. Now top this off with a layer of the mashed potatoes. Be gentle when spreading. You don't want the veggies and mashed potatoes to get mixed like crazy with each other. I wanted it to look a little sophisticated. So I have piped a simple star pattern :) Dribble little oil over the pie and bake in the oven for 30 - 40 mins. 

Serve hot with your favourite stir fry.

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Happy Baking!

Quiche / Pie

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