Pot pie

There aren't many things in life that are more comforting than a pot pie. The most delicious one I've ever had was a sweet potato and chickpea pot pie that I had at a pub at Mount Victoria, whilst driving back from The OC to Sydney one weekend.

I've never seen it on any other menu, and never seen a recipe for such a pie, but I have craved it often. So much in fact that I've searched around on the internet to find something similar. This recipe for Moroccan lamb & chickpea pot pies at Taste is the closest I've seen.

A sudden cold snap hit Melbourne a few days ago. Also, I'm starting night shift tonight for 4 nights in a row. So what better time to fill the fridge with a hearty and nourishing pot pie.



I've adapted the taste recipe to take out the lamb. Still not quite at the level of the Mount Victoria pub, but I'm willing to keep working on it over winter!

Morroccan sweet potato & chickpea pot pies

Ingredients

• Olive oil spray
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• Half a leek (I happened to have it in the fridge. I wouldn't buy it just for the sake of this recipe if I didn't have it already though)
  
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin (I added this because I always seem to use coriander and cumin together)
  
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 x 400g can no-added-salt tomatoes
• 500g orange sweet potato (kumara), peeled, cut into 1.5cm-pieces (I increased the amount to compensate for the lack of lamb)
  
• 60ml (1/4 cup) water
• 1 x 400g can chickpeas, rinsed, drained
• 1 tsp honey
• 4 sheets filo
• 1 tsp sesame seeds

Method

1. Heat a large non-stick frying pan and then spray with olive oil spray. Add the onion +/- leek to the pan. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until soft. Stir in the garlic, coriander, cumin and cinnamon. Cook for 1 minute or until aromatic.
2. Add the tomato, sweet potato and water to the pan. Bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes. Add the lamb and chickpeas, and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in the honey. Season with pepper.
3. Preheat oven to 200°C. Divide the pie mixture among four 250ml (1-cup) capacity ovenproof dishes. Spray 1 filo sheet with olive oil spray. Fold in half 4 times to make a square. Place on top of 1 pie. Scrunch the edges. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Repeat with remaining filo sheets and sesame seeds. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Serve.

I'm not very good at working with filo, so I kinda mucked this bit up. Still tasted good though. I'm going to have to get some filo lessons from my friend who uses it to make yummy spinach and cheese triangles.

Also I really need to buy some ramekins. I have the small baking tin pictured above, but the rest of the mix just went in a loaf pan since I don't even have any ovenproof bowels. On the todo list!

Tagged!

I was going to start this sentence by saying "I don't normally participate in these tagging things"...which is true, I don't. But given that I've never actually *been* tagged, I can't say for certain whether it's because I don't like tag-things, or just that I've never been asked.

Anyhoo, I've been tagged by both the lovely Michelle, and the amazing Theresa, and given that it's been a while since I posted here, and since I'm unexpectedly home for the night, here goes! I need to list 10 little-known facts about myself and then ask 10 other people to follow suit. Buckle up kiddies.

1. I'm completely unmusically and unartistically talented. Only instrument I've ever played is the recorder. Both my brothers have uni degrees in creative arts but I missed out on the artistic gene too.

2. Before going back to uni to study medicine, I was a computer programmer. Technically I can put the initials BITCH after my name and mean it (Bachelor Information Technology and Communication with Honours). Actually getting that H was one of the main motivators that made me want to do Honours in the first place!

3. My biggest fears are huntsman spiders and leeches. I temporarily got over my fear of leeches after spending a month in Borneo (they are everywhere there), but years later Australian leeches still freak me out unless I have salt on standby. I don't think I will ever get over my fear of hunstman spiders.

4. Goats are my favourite animals. I've had a few pet goats, but a little angora goat named Andy stole my heart. I used to take him for walks through the village we lived in, had taught him to jump over ropes and even tried dying him pink with mulberry juice once. I was devastated when police dogs escaped and killed him.

5. I love British comedy and could spend hours quoting Blackadder, The Young Ones, Red Dwarf and Monty Python. I once translated "my hovercraft is full of eels" into 30 languages just for the fun of it.

6. When I was born I nearly died of haemolytic disease of the newborn and had to have an exchange blood transfusion to replace all my red blood cells at birth. Given that I'm the oldest child, this means my mum unknowingly had a miscarriage before I was born. Nowadays this is prevented by giving prophylactic anti-D injections to pregnant mums with O- blood group. Modern medicine can be great!

7. I had never been overseas until I was age 12. That year my parents packed up and moved us all to England for a year. It was scary, but great. I have never stopped wanting to travel since!

8. I have never been sea-sick in my life. Not even crossing the English channel in a terrible storm when everyone around me was staggering around projectile vomiting including every other member of my family. I sat there doing my maths homework like the nerd that I am!

9. I don't know how to braid hair. I'd really like to learn.

10. I used to hate pineapple, tomato, capsicum, onion, asparagus and a host of other veggies that I now love. I still hate cauliflower, broccolli and brussel sprouts with a passion and can't even eat food those vegetables have touched. I also can't eat mixed peas and corn. They have to be separated and then eaten. OCD much?

Whew, talk about useless trivia huh! :)

Now who to tag? I think all the youlookfab ladies have already played along, and I don't know who else actually reads this blog! Mary, Phil, Nadine: wanna play?