Mini Veg Pies

Wondering what to do with our leftover puff pastry from here and not wanting to waste it, we decided to get creative and make mini veg pies using the vegetables in our fridge. These little treats that take around 40 minutes to make are bursting with flavour and are a delicious and inventive way to include some vegetables in your daily diet. As they're quite small, they'd make a great snack to serve at a gathering or party... or you could put a few on your plate and serve with salad (or even make your own chips - yum!).

To make 7-ish mini pastries (enough for two people) you'll need:

1. small block of puff pastry or about 2-3 sheets
2. olive oil
3. little dollop of milk
4. 1 egg
5. teeny bit of butter

For pie filling, we used:

1. pumpkin
2. potato
3. feta cheese
4. seeds
5. capsicum
6. mushroom
7. spinach

Start by turning the oven onto 160 degrees, and then chopping and cooking the pie ingredients; cut the pumpkin and potato into cubes and bake for around 20 mins with a small dash of olive oil. Also, lightly fry the mushrooms and spinach (why not with one clove of garlic?).

While the potatoes are baking, get the puff pastry ready. The puff pastry we used required separating slices from the 'block' and then rolling the pieces out. As you can see below, we rolled the pastry out on a floured chopping board with our trusty drink bottle (also with flour wiped on it so the pastry dough doesn't stick to it). Your puff pastry may simply require you to 'unfold' the pastry sheet - make sure you read the packet instructions first.

Next, lightly grease the muffin tray with butter, then cut the pastry into circles that are slightly bigger than the muffin tray bottom. This way, when you put the circle in the muffin tray it will not only cover the bottom of the hole but also go up along the sides making a sort of pastry cup within the tray. Being the illustrious people we are, we used a teacup to make the circles.

Now's the fun bit. Add your desired fillings to the puff pastry pies. Why not mix it up, and use different fillings in each pie. *nb I seriously recommend feta, pumpkin and spinach with sprinkled seeds (like sunflower and/or pumpkin)... oh. my. gosh.

Here's a little tip, see the the bits of pastry dough in this picture poking up from the sides of the filling? Dab a bit of milk on these bits so they don't burn in the oven.

Next, mix the egg and a dollop of milk in a bowl until they become one consistent liquid. Then pour a small amount of the liquid on top of the pie filling, this will help keep the filling all together.

Bake the mini pies for roughly 20 minutes - checking frequently to make sure the pastry goes a lovely golden colour but doesn't burn. While you wait for the pies to bake, you could make a delicious side salad.