Every year as Thanksgiving rolls around, I tell myself it will be different. I tell myself I’ll get away from the prepackaged sculpted tofu, molded wheat gluten, or whittled tempeh drumsticks. I’ll venture into the territory of celebrating vegetables for what they are, vegetables. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s once a year, and if pseudo-meats are a thing you look forward to, enjoy it! There’s no shame in pseudo-meats, and they’ve come a long way! I do, however, find myself increasingly excited about the vegetable sides each year, and decided it was high time to make them the main event.
Thanksgiving involves indulgence, so I brought out the big guns, by which I mean: Puff Pastry.
Yes, believe it or not, that stuff can be found in a non-dairy variety. A certain well known Farm has a vegan variety, and I actually found a tasty supermarket brand (with considerably less additives) in my local megamart. Can you make it yourself? Sure, but come on, it’s Thanksgiving. Be grateful for the convenience!
After finding this cute little guy at my local farm, I knew what I had to do.
Squash Puff Pastry Pie
- 1 Kabocha squash (butternut or even pumpkin is fine)
- 1 Onion, sliced
- 1/2 tsp Brown mustard seeds
- 1 tsp Thyme (dried, double if fresh)
- 1/2 tsp Fresh ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp Orange zest
- Pinch Cayenne pepper
- Olive oil for roasting/sautéing
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 Package puff pastry
Start by preheating your oven to 400° F and leaving your frozen puff pastry on the counter to thaw. Cut the bottom off of your squash so that it won’t wobble on your cutting board. Cut it in half and de-seed it. If you’d like, save the seeds for roasting later.
Carefully cut off the skin and cube your squash. In a roasting dish, toss the cubes with olive oil to coat, the salt and pepper. Roast for 35-40 minutes, or until fork tender.
While that’s roasting, toss your sliced onions into a pan with olive oil to coat, the thyme, mustard seeds, cayenne, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and orange zest. Keep this pan on medium to medium low heat. You’re going to stir things up every once in a while, but you want these to cook for a long time on low heat. You’re going for a caramel brown. Once your onions and squash are done, combine them and put in your vessel of choice, and raise your oven’s temperature to 430° F.
Take your thawed puff pastry and carefully lay it over your pie plate. Trim the edges to fit with kitchen shears, and brush with olive oil.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until pastry lives up to its name:
This makes two individual pies quite nicely. If you’re feeding a crowd, feel free to double the recipe as needed!
If done correctly, the Thanksgiving feast should go as such: Pie, stuffing, more pie, sleep it off for a bit, and then more pie. Now you can alternate sweet pies with savory! Be grateful for variety, be grateful for tastiness, and be grateful for pie!