Veggie Pot Pies with Broccoli Rabe, Shiitake, and Feta Cheese
These Veggie Pot Pies have a garlicky broccoli rabe, shiitake, and feta cheese filling. The crust is the flakiest in the world. These mini pot pies were a huge hit!
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Keyword appetizer, broccoli, pie, shiitake
Prep Time 2 hourshours
Cook Time 30 minutesminutes
Total Time 2 hourshours30 minutesminutes
Servings 7mini pies
Calories 350kcal
Ingredients
Filling
10ozshiitake mushrooms
6ozbroccoli rabe
1tablespoonextra virgin olive oil
2garlic clovesminced
4ozfeta cheesecrumbled
1teaspoonsaltor to taste
Dough
2cupsall-purpose flour 9 oz
2teaspoonsgranulated sugar
1teaspoonfine sea salt
8tablespoonsunsalted butter
1/3cupvegetable shortening
7-9tablespoonsice cold water
To assemble
1egg yolk
1teaspoonwater
Instructions
Filling
Slice shiitake mushrooms. Remove bottom thick stems from the broccoli rabe, and chop it roughly into 1 inch pieces.
Saute garlic in hot olive oil, in a large pan, over medium heat.
Don't let garlic brown too much. As soon as it starts to get brown, add mushrooms and broccoli rabe to the pan.
Stir to combine, add salt, pepper to taste.
Cook vegetables until broccoli and mushrooms are wilted and cooked, about 5 minutes.
Set aside to cool.
Dough
Start by chopping the butter into 1/2” pieces.
Place butter and shortening on top of a piece of parchment or wax paper, and put it in the freezer for 15 minutes.
While butter and shortening get really cold in the freezer, start to assemble the other ingredients.
Place flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor.
You can also do this by hand if you don’t want to use a food processor.
Mix flour, sugar, and salt to combine.
Add butter and shortening.
If using the food processor, pulse a few times, until butter and flour mixture has the consistency of coarse meal, no big lumps of fat in your dough.
If doing it by hand, you can use a pastry cutter, or a fork, or even your hands, to cut the butter into the dough.
Slowly, add the 7 tablespoons of water to the dough. If using the food processor, you can add a couple of tablespoons and pulse one time. Add a couple more tablespoons and pulse again. Do this until you’ve added all the water.
If doing it by hand, simply mix the dough with a spatula.
Now, if the dough is clumping together, that’s a sign you don’t have to add anymore water.
If the dough is too crumbly and dry, add a bit more water, one tablespoon at a time.
Dough shouldn’t be too wet, but it also shouldn’t be crumbling apart.
Form dough into a ball. Wrap it in plastic. Place it in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours, until completely firm.
To assemble
I used mini tart pans, you can make a big 9 inch pie, or small ones, or even line the bottom of cupcake tins with the dough. Get creative with whatever you have in your house, it doesn't have to be a specific size pan.
I used 3.5" tart pans, and the recipe yielded 7 mini pies.
If you are lining mini pies, or lining a large pie, simply turn half of the dough onto a floured counter, and roll it out until 1/4" thick.
Cut out circles that are at least 1 1/2" bigger in diameter than your tart pan. Or use the whole rolled out half of the dough to line the bottom of a large 9" pie pan.
Spread filling on the bottom of lines pans.
Sprinkle feta on top.
Now, roll out the other portion of the dough and do the same thing. If making smaller pies, cut out circles and place them on top of the pies. Or simply roll out the entire half and place on top of a large 9" pie.
Crimp edges to seal.
Place pie in the freezer while you pre-heat the oven to 350F.
This is important because it solidifies the fat in the pie dough, which means it won't start to melt immediately as it enters the oven, and therefore, your pie crust will be flakier and have a better structure, since the gluten bonds will be able to settle before the fat starts to melt.
Anyway, once pie is cold, and oven is hot, about 15 minutes later, you can place the pies in the oven.
Remember to whisk the egg yolk and the water in a small bowl and brush all over the surface of the pie before baking. This will ensure a golden crust!
Bake time will vary depending on what size of pie you decided to go with. Smaller pies will bake faster, start to check at the 8 minute mark, rotate if necessary, and continue to check every 3-5 minutes.
Larger pies will take longer to bake. A 9" pie for example, will take about 30 minutes to bake entirely.
Serve once it has cooled down.
This pie will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days, covered and well stored.