Pithiviers with chard, squash & ricotta
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Pithiviers with chard, squash & ricotta

MasterChef judge John Torode cooks up an attractive vegetarian pie, perfect for Christmas Day or winter entertaining

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 1 hr 20 mins

Cook time

Cook 40 mins

Vegetarian Freezable

Vegetarian

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Roast the squash for 30-40 minutes until the flesh is soft enough to scoop out.
  2. Melt half the butter in a frying pan. Add the shallots, chilli, coriander and a good grating of nutmeg. Fry for 10 minutes. Add 100ml of water and the white chard then increase the heat - as it cooks the water will evaporate. Add the green chard and stir fry until wilted. Cool, then stir in the ricotta. Mash the squash with the butter. Season. Mix with the chard.
  3. Roll out the puff pastry and cut out 8 discs the size of a side plate, then chill for 10 minutes. Butter 1 or 2 baking sheets. Put the four discs on the baking sheets and prick with a fork. Put a big spoonful of the mixture in the middle (pic 1). Brush the edges with milk.
  4. Put the tops over the filling. Press down around it, getting rid of any air pockets (pic 2). Using the back of a knife, start at the centre and mark curved lines (pic 3) until you have a spiral pattern all the way around (pic 4). You can freeze them at this point.
  5. Brush with egg, then bake for 30 minutes until crisp and golden.
Try

John's veggie dish

'The Swiss chard adds texture to the pies and the pumpkin gives a rich buttery flavour. A classic pithivier has a distinctive Catherine-wheel pattern scored into the top, which gives it a really cheffy finish. These will also freeze perfectly, so make ahead, take them out of the freezer on Christmas Eve and you'll be sorted for the big day. And your veggie friends will love you.'

PER SERVING

963 kcalories, protein 15.8g, carbohydrate 75.5g, fat 68.5 g, saturated fat 34.3g, fibre 5.8g, salt 2.4 g

Recipe from olive magazine, December 2010.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • 20 November 2010

    wolfie commented on this recipe

    Made this the other week and froze a second batch. Really tasty and looked amazing with the swirly pattern! Will definitely be rolling these out at Christmas.

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  • 20 November 2010

    Ms Scorpio rated and commented on this recipe

    1 stars

    May be commenting too soon, because I've frozen the unbaked pies, but the mixture tasted of nothing but chilli. Forgot to engage brain when adding 2 small chillis to such a small amount of filling.

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  • Binder photo Bea

    16 December 2010

    Bea rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I made these and everyone said they tasted wonderful.I put in a few more chillies, garlic and ginger to spice it up as butternut squash is a bit too sweet. I could not find any swiss chard so used spinach. Friends and family liked it.I am making more for the vegetarians at Christmas

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  • 03 March 2011

    Janet commented on this recipe

    Delicious! I had too much filling, so I used the extra to make a quiche.

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  • 21 December 2011

    Joan Killeen rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I think this is a great recipe for vegetarian guests. I couldn't find butternut squash so just used the squash that was available. After mashing I thought it looked too watery and so drained it very well in a sieve. I also added some wholegrain mustard as I didn't want to go mad on the chilli and I felt the filling needed something. And although I am not very good at fiddly decorating they looked great and my guests were happy and satisfied! They freeze perfectly too.

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  • 27 April 2012

    Veganforanimals commented on this recipe

    When you say freeze, do you freeze before cooking or after?

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 1 hr 20 mins

Cook time

Cook 40 mins

Vegetarian Freezable

Vegetarian

Ingredients

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PER SERVING

963 kcalories, protein 15.8g, carbohydrate 75.5g, fat 68.5 g, saturated fat 34.3g, fibre 5.8g, salt 2.4 g

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