How to Make an Inexpensive Dinner: Rustic Seasonal Vegetable Pie

Many are afraid of the arrival of late autumn and winter due to the lack of the former variety of vegetables on the shelves, but if you know how to properly handle pumpkin and root crops, which abound in this time, you can easily prepare a hearty and budget dinner. A prime example of this is this rustic pie with seasonal vegetables. Its charm is not only in simplicity, but also in variability, since any seasonal vegetables can become a filling.

Ingredients

For the cake:

a sheet of puff yeast-free dough;
225 g potatoes;
225 g pumpkin;
225 g celery root;
200 g leeks;
1 egg.

For the sauce:

40 g butter;
3 tablespoons flour;
50 g of hard cheese;
2 tablespoons of grain mustard;
a pinch of nutmeg;
½ teaspoon dried rosemary
1 large clove of garlic;
580 ml of milk.

Preparation

While the dough is thawing, peel and chop the vegetables. Since we will be baking all the vegetables together, consider the density of each so that the pieces are cooked at the same time. Cut the hard celery into small cubes, divide the pumpkin into large pieces of 4–5 centimeters in thickness, the potatoes can be cut into slices, and the leeks into rings 2–2, 5 centimeters thick.

After distributing the vegetable mix on a baking sheet covered with parchment or foil, sprinkle everything with oil, season with salt, pepper and send to an oven preheated to 200 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Ready vegetables can be put into the pie in large pieces (that's why it is rustic), or you can divide the potatoes and pumpkin into smaller pieces.

While the vegetables are baking, make the sauce. The basis will be a simple béchamel, for which it is enough to simmer the flour with melted butter for about 30 seconds, and then dilute everything with milk, avoiding the formation of lumps.

Next, bring the sauce to a boil, season with salt, nutmeg, rosemary, mustard and garlic mashed into a paste. Let the milk thicken, stirring the sauce over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Season the prepared sauce with cheese.

Place the vegetables in a mold, top with the sauce and top with a piece of rolled puff pastry. In the center of the layer, make a slot for steam to escape, and brush the surface with an egg so that the lid of the cake is beautifully browned.

Leave the dish in an oven preheated to 220 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the lid of the pie turns golden brown and makes a dull sound when tapped on it.