At school our next food tech project was to make mini quiches. As I’m allergic to dairy I couldn’t use milk or cheese so I decided to change the recipe and made these vegan mini pies instead,which very really, really yummy! They are sooo easy to cook –  you can use any the veggies  you like ( mushroom, spring onion, courgette,  green beans, olives, asparagus, corn, sundried tomatoes, grilled pepper etc would work.) If you’re not vegan, you can add some bacon, chorizo, grated cheese or cooked chicken to the recipe too.

For the pastry you’ll need:

• 200g flour
• 100g dairy-free margarine
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tbsps. water

For the filling:

• 3 tbsp sundried tomato paste or pizza sauce
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ½ leek, chopped
• ½ red pepper, chopped
• ½ cup defrosted green peas
• 1 handful cherry tomatoes(halved)

How to make the mini pies:

1. Set the oven temperature to 190 C. Lightly grease a scone or Yorkshire pudding tin ( or a shallow muffin tin –  but the normal tin is too deep for this recipe!).
2. Sieve the flour and salt in a mixing bowl.
3. Crumble the margarine into the flour, and using your fingers, rub them together until you get a rough mixture. Add the water and mix with a palette knife.
4. On the lightly floured surface kneed the mixture into a dough for about a minute, then flatten the top.
5. Roll the dough out to ½ cm thickness and, using a cutter or mug, stamp out 8-10 circles that would fit into the tin.
6. Place and gently press the circles into the patty tin.
7. Mix the tomato sauce with the minced garlic, then brush the insides of the pies with this sauce.
8. Chop the vegetables of your choice (make sure you use 3 different ones) and scatter them into the pies (don’t over fill them – you’ll need about 1 tbsp mixed veggies in each).
9. Cook in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the pastry is golden and firm to the touch (take one out of the tine carefully and check the base!)
10. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Tip

Thesemini vegan piesare perfect for parties, picnic, afternoon-tea – or take them with you to school in your lunchbox!