Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Feta Pie

I didn’t know that my daughter is a big fan of feta cheese until I baked this Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Feta Pie. When I was about to sprinkle the feta onto the vegetables, she grabbed a big piece of it. She told me that’s her favourite cheese after enjoying the big bite. Not surprisingly, I found my hubby is not quite into the cheese. My daughter’s palate is quite different from my hubby’s. Being a home cook, I always have to juggle, sometimes swing back and forth in cooking some western and oriental dishes to suit their different palates.

Nearly half of the 8 inch pie was eaten by my daughter. As for myself, I love the shortcrust, as it’s easy to make and yummy. The caramelized onion was cooked with a well-balanced sweet and tangy taste, going so well with the pumpkin and sweet potato.

Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Feta Pie (Printable recipe)
Ingredients:

• 500 gm butternut squash, diced
• 200 gm red sweet potato, diced
• 4 to 5 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 50 gm feta cheese, broken into small pieces
• 2 small red onion, sliced
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp finely chopped rosemary leaves,
• salt, to taste
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• whisked egg, for egg wash
• 1 shortcurst pastry, frozen or homemade (see recipe below)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200C (395F). Place pumpkin, sweet potato and garlic cloves in a baking pan and mix well with olive oil. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the pumpkin and sweet potato are tender. Remove from the oven. Let cool.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a frying pan, add the onion and cook for 10 to 12 minutes. Pour in the vinegar and sugar and cook for another 12 minutes, or until the onion is caramelized. Remove from the heat and add to the pumpkin. Let cool completely. Squeeze out the garlic flesh. Mix in feta cheese and rosemary to the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Roll out the pastry to a 24cm (9½inch) circle. Place onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Spoon the vegetables in the middle of the pastry, leaving 4cm（1½inch）border. Fold over the edges, pleating as you fold. Brush whisked egg on the edge. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden. Served hot.

To make shortcrust pastry
Ingredients (makes a 9½inch circle ):

• 200 gm plain flour
• 100 gm chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 2 Tbsp chilled water

Method:

1. Put flour and butter into a food processor and blend for about 1 minute. Add 2 tablespoons chilled water and process until the mixture comes together.
2. Knead into a circle or disc with hands. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes. It’s ready to use.
3. If the dough chills longer and becomes hard, not easy to roll out, you can leave it at room temperature for a while, until it becomes soft again.