Greek Summer Vegetable Pie

[happyeatinghl]

Few things are better in life than visiting Greece in summer time. Sunshine, crystal clear sea and glorious food. When in Greece, don’t forget to stroll along the picturesque fresh produce market of your area. You’ll find an abundance of fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, the basic ingredients to every Greek recipe. As I’m currently in my home country, visiting my family, I decided to make a vegan, gluten-free and grain-free veggie pie to savor the succulent summer vegetables. Below you’ll find the recipe for my (big fat) Greek Summer Vegetable Pie.


Visiting Greece is an amazing experience that you’ll never forget. Being Greek I can wholeheartedly recommend this to you. However, if you want to get a taste of my country without leaving your place, make my Greek Summer Vegetable Pie and feel the summer breeze.


The crust of this pie is made of almonds from my parents almond trees and dried raisins from Korinthos area. For the filling I used the soft meat of oven roasted eggplants. I added garlic puree, sweet smoked paprika and fresh herbs to give a distinctive Greek taste. The topping ingredients are vegetables that Greeks are using every day in their salads: ripe, succulent tomatoes, sweet bell peppers, big, tasty olives, juicy pomegranate seeds and more fresh herbs.

Ingredients

For a 30 cm diameter pie

Crust



* 2 ¼ Cup of Almonds
* 1 ¼ Cup of Dried Raisins
* ½ Tsp of Smoked Paprika Powder
* ½ Tsp of Salt

Filling

* 6 medium sized Eggplants
* 6 Garlic Cloves
* Fresh Onion, sliced (reserve a few slices for the topping)
* 1 small Bunch of Parsley, chopped (reserve a small part for the topping)
* 1 Stalk of Peppermint, chopped
* 1 Tsp of Smoked Paprika Powder
* Salt to taste




Topping

* 1 big Yellow Paprika, thinly sliced
* 1 big, ripe and meaty Tomato, sliced and seeded
* Seeds of ½ Pomegranate
* 10 big Olives, pitted and halved
* White Sesame Seeds for sprinkling



Instructions

1) Warm up the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Pierce the Eggplants a few times with a fork to vent.
2) Add the Almonds in your food processor and pulse for a few seconds. Add the dried raisins, the smoked paprika and the salt, and pulse till you obtain a sticky texture that holds well together.
3) Place a parchment paper on your 30 cm diameter pie dish and press the crust mixture, so as to create a solid crust. If you have a little roller, cover the mixture with another parchment paper and use the roller to make your crust smooth and even. Put the pie dish in the refrigerator.
4) Place the Eggplants and the Garlic Cloves on a baking sheet and put it in the oven. Roast the eggplants and the Garlic Cloves during 30 minutes, till the skins get browned and the pulp softens up.
5) Slice the Eggplants open. Scoop out the soft pulpy flesh and place it in a bowl. Discard the skins. Squeeze the garlic puree out of the garlic skins and place them in the food processor, together with the Eggplant flesh. Add the Fresh Herbs and the Condiments of the filling. Process till everything gets mixed and smooth.
6) Place the mixture into a thin tissue and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Take the pie dish out of the refrigerator and cover the pie crust with the Eggplant soft mixture.
7) Decorate with the topping ingredients.
8) Keep the pie in your refrigerator or eat it right away!