CURRIED LENTIL HAND PIES

Recipe by the Leek and the Carrot

This is one of the more involved recipes I’ve made. Puff pastry makes the preparation of hand pies much more manageable than asking you to also make your own pie crust, but if this tedious task feels daunting (or you are trying to avoid rich things like puff pastry/pie crust), the curried lentils could also be served over rice with the cucumber sauce for a very simple and healthy dinner.

Makes 18 hand pies (2-3 is a meal, so this serves a lot!)

Takes 1 hour, 40 minutes

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons sunflower oil

2 long red florence onions (or any other onion), finely diced

1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

1 chard bunch

1 green pepper, seeded and finely diced

2 medium zucchini and/or summer squash (or 1 large)

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder

1 cup puy lentils

3 cups water

2-17.3 ounce packages puff pastry (2 sheets each)*

2 eggs, well-whisked*

Cucumber Yogurt Sauce

1 cup whole fat Greek yogurt

1 shredded cucumber

2 tablespoons thinly sliced basil (or any other herb)

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. In a large heavy skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Saute until softened, about 5 minutes. 

2. Prepare your chard by removing the stems from the leaves and thinly slicing. Add to the skillet with the onions, along with the green pepper, zucchini or summer squash and garlic. Saute 5 minutes more over medium heat then add curry powder, turmeric, and cayenne. Stir gently to incorporate the spices.

3. Roughly chop the chard greens and set aside. 

4. Add lentils, water and remaining teaspoon salt to the skillet. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to a gentle simmer and cook until lentils are tender (but still firm) and liquid is almost gone, about 15 minutes. Stir in chard greens and cook until the pan is dry, 2-3 minutes more. The mixture needs to be firm so that it makes a good fill without pouring out of the crust. If you are opting to eat this mixture over rice, you can leave it a little saucier, or even add a half can of coconut milk before serving. 

5. For those who are making the hand pies, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. For those who aren’t making the hand pies, proceed to step 10.

6. On a lightly floured counter, roll out one sheet of puff pastry to a size of approximately 18 inches wide by 12 inches high. Cut into 9 rectangles and brush each edge of each rectangle with egg. 

7. Fill half of the pastry rectangles with a very heaping spoonful of the mixture (about 2-3 tablespoons total, enough that it reaches the egg wash edges but not so much that you can’t easily close it. Cover each pastry rectangle topped with filling with another pastry rectangle (you want the two egg-washed sides to touch) and then seal the edges by pressing with a fork. 

8. Place sealed pies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and brush with more egg mixture. Cut a small slit/hole in the top of each pie and then place the tray in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Also, yes, I know you had an odd number of rectangles so you have one piece left over. Set that to the side and use for the next batch of puff pastry.

9. Repeat steps #7-8 with each piece of puff pastry until you run out of mixture.

10. In a small bowl, combine all cucumber sauce ingredients. Stir until combined, taste, and adjust seasonings as desired. 

*These ingredients are optional. See heading for alternative serving recommendation.