Squash & sage pithivier

This simple pie for one makes a great veggie option for Christmas Day – make as many as you need and freeze ahead

  • Prep:20 mins
    Cook:30 mins
  • Serves 1
  • Easy

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 1022
  • fat 72g
  • saturates 37g
  • carbs 76g
  • sugars 16g
  • fibre 7g
  • protein 21g
  • salt 2.1g

Ingredients

  • ¼ a 500g pack puff pastry
  • flour, for dusting
  • 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
  • 4 tbsp mascarpone
  • 1 tbsp breadcrumbs, fresh or dried
  • 6 sage leaves, chopped, plus a few extra to decorate
  • 1 garlic clove, finely grated to a paste
  • ½ the top end of a butternut squash (about 250g), thinly sliced into rounds
  • 1 egg, beaten

Method

  1. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Roughly halve the pastry, but make one half a tiny bit bigger. Roll the slightly smaller half out on a floured surface to a circle about 15cm in diameter. Spread over the mustard, leaving about a 2cm gap around the edge. Mix the mascarpone, breadcrumbs, chopped sage and garlic together and season generously.

  2. Arrange a few squash slices, overlapping, to cover the mustard. Spread with some of the mascarpone mixture. Repeat, making slightly smaller circles with the squash each time, and spreading mascarpone between each layer until the top is just one slice of squash and you have made a rough dome shape on the pastry.

  3. Thinly roll out remaining pastry. Use to cover the squash dome, gently pressing down on the veg to push out as much air as you can. Press the pastry edges to seal. At this stage, you can cover and chill the pie overnight, or freeze for 1 month. Defrost before continuing. Brush with beaten egg, then poke a tiny steam hole in the top and gently score patterns over the surface. Dip a few sage leaves in the remaining egg and stick on top. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 35-40 mins until a skewer poked through the steam hole goes through the veg easily.

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