Chestnut, Mushroom & Spinach Hand Pies

Chestnuts are the perfect plant-based pie filling, adding depth and flavour and paring tastily with the earthiness of mushrooms. This recipe can easily be the star of roast dinners, a simple pie and mash set-up or served simply with a chestnut gravy. Delicious!
Recipe by @the_bare_scientist
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Serves 15
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1 hour 15 minutes
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3 pans
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Proficient
Suitable for vegans
Ingredients
- 300g spinach
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely sliced
- 4 large cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
- 150g chestnut mushrooms
- 150g portobello mushrooms
- 1 tbsp vegan butter alternative
- 1 x 180g pouch Merchant Gourmet Whole Chestnuts
- 100g grated vegan cheddar alternative
- 1 x 500g block of vegan puff pastry
- Sea salt
- Course black pepper
- 4 – 5 large sprigs of fresh thyme
- A couple of tablespoons of cornflour for sealing the pastry case
Instructions
- Pour boiling water over the spinach and leave for 30 – 60 seconds, straining and rinsing under ice cold water. Drain and pat the spinach dry with a paper towel or cloth to get as dry as possible
- Add olive oil to a heated frying pan, and on a medium-high heat, add in the onions and fry for 2-3 minutes until translucent
- Add in garlic and fry for 1-2 minutes until they release their flavour, followed by the thyme sprigs, salt, pepper and butter
- Add in the roughly but thinly chopped mushrooms and dry off until they reduce in size for about 8-10 minutes
- Season to taste and discard any excess liquid and leave the mixture to cool
- Once the puff pastry block has been out of the refrigerator for 20 minutes, place it on a floured surface and roll out to the thickness of about a £1 coin. Preheat your oven to 180°C
- You will want to cut out two sizes of discs; the smaller size at approximately 10cm and the larger at approximately 12cm (the larger will be the top case for the pie)
- Chop the chestnuts and add into the mushroom mix along with the spinach and cheese
- Place a few tablespoons of mixture onto the middle smaller disc and using a pastry brush, dab the outer section with a little cornflour and water mix, then placing the larger disc atop. Ensure you have no air entrapped, and seal, finally pressing the edges all the way around with a fork. Repeat until you are complete
- Glaze the pies with the other tablespoon of olive oil and place the pies onto a lined baking tray and into the preheated oven and cook until golden or for about 25 minutes
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