Holidays mean sweet potatoes. And this year, sweet potato pie gets upgraded. Inspired by the delightful layer cake, this Sweet potato, Spinach, Caramelize Onion & Goat’s Cheese Pie is a (almost) vegetarian heaven generously filled with seasonal winter favorites all wrapped in a light and flaky homemade pastry. This was a fun food puzzle to put together in this cold weather, but it’s even more fun to eat. Serve this with a fresh green salad.
Serves 4-8
1 cup + 6 tbsp all purpose flour
6 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup iced water
6 tbsp chilled unsalted butter (European butter works best)
2 puff pastry
3 sweet potatoes, medium size
3 onions, medium size
200g baby spinach, fresh
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, pressed
100g-200g goat’s cheese, soft
1 egg, beaten
1. If you want to make homemade pastry, follow the instructions of the puff pastry recipe here. Just make sure to make two doughs the day before making the pie. This will give you plenty of time to focus on this task. Making puff pastry can be intimidating but all you need to succeed is to keep the dough cold through the process and everything is going to work out.
2. When you are ready to make the pie, lightly grease with butter the bottom and sides of an 8½-inch springform pan.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out your first puff pastry to 1/4″ thick round. Be sure to roll it big enough to cover the bottom and sides of your springform pan with an overhang. Carefully arrange the dough into the pan, gently pressing all the way to the corners. Cover and refrigerate.
4. Roll out the second puff pastry until it is 1/4″ thick. Cut out a circle, using your springform pan as a template. Cover, and refrigerate. You will have some leftover puff pastry. Don’t throw it away! Use it to make these Cheese Sesame Puff Pastry Bites.
5. Preheat the oven to 425 F (218C).
6. Wash the sweet potatoes and pat dry them. Poke holes all around each potato using a fork.
7. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 50 minutes.
8. Transfer the potatoes to a chopping board, cut the top skin with a knife to free the hot steam (careful, it’s hot) and peel each potato.
9. Cut each sweet potato into ½-inch thick slices and set aside to completely cool down.
10. Peel and thinly slice the onions.
11. Place a sauté pan over medium heat and add a tablespoon or two of olive oil.
12. Add the onion slices and stir to coat the onions with the oil.
13. Add a generous pinch of salt, spread the onions out evenly over the pan and let cook slowly for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The trick is to leave them alone enough to brown but stir them before they burn.
14. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool down.
15. Wash spinach leaves in a large bowl filled with cold water then, drain them well and pat dry with a paper towel.
16. In the same sauté pan, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
17. Add pressed garlic, pine nuts and sauté for a minute, or until the garlic and pine nuts just begin to brown.
18. Add the spinach leaves, salt and pepper and stir well. Sauté for about 3 minutes, or until all excess of liquid has evaporated and spinach is soft.
19. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool down.
20. Preheat the oven to 350F (177C).
21. Remove the pastry lined pan from the fridge.
22. Add sliced sweet potatoes in a layer.
23. Add all caramelized onions on top of that.
24. Distribute all the spinach mixture in a layer on top.
25. Crumble a generous layer of goat’s cheese over spinach.
26. Finally, add the rest of the sweet potatoes, in a layer on top.
27. Trim the overhanging edges of the pastry to about 1 inch. Set aside in the fridge dough leftovers.
28. Remove the round top piece of dough from the fridge, and lay it on top of the pie.
29. Brush with beaten egg the edges, then fold the outer dough over top dough, pushing in the edges to seal well. I first use my fingers then use the handle of a spoon to create a clean folded edge.
30. Cut a hole in the middle of the pie to let the hot air escape and prevent the crust from getting soggy.
31. Use a knife to trace a design if you like.
32. Brush the top of the pie with beaten egg.
33. You can also decorate the top with leaves made from any leftover pastry. Brush leaves with some more beaten egg .
34. Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes, or until pastry is puffed and golden brown on top. Leave it cool in the pan for 10 minutes before serving.
Cheers Xx
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