“Roasted Root Vegetable Slab Pie with a Gluten-free Corn Flour Crust”
Purple & deep red sweet potatoes, white parsnips, turnips shaded from lavender to white, onions of all sorts, beets from golden to deep purple, variegated fingerlings potatoes, tri-color carrots……..I am obsessed with the abundance piled gloriously in the farmer’s markets. They glow as the sun sets and I choose a few of each to roast for this pie.
One of the things I love about photographing food for my blog this time of year is the soft blue cast that seems to be ever-present. It reminds me of North Sea light or a bright snowy day.
Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free Cornflour was the base for this crispy crust. Some Gruyere shredded, softened herb goat cheese dollops & thyme leaves added to the mix. Very easy dough to make in the processor & simple to press into a baking sheet pan while the vegs are roasting.
People often ask me if I do a lot of cooking at home. Although I am surrounded by food every day in my job as a food stylist we still eat at home most nights. I cook very simple foods like this pie that can be eaten for a couple of nights with a change in the salad to accompany it. This is the sort of recipe I make on a Saturday or Sunday for supper. Easy & quick using fresh vegetables with a bit of cheese baked in a very simple crust. Salads and more salads at least 4 nights a week as the stand alone entrée. One day I will blog on our “variations on the salad” which are the basis of most of our meals.
Parsnips, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic cloves & baby red potatoes slightly roasted & scattered across the bottom of the cheese topped dough.
Baked with slices of Feta cheese on top. Freshly ground black pepper & crunchy sea salt.
Cut into slabs, eaten warm with a simple green salad & a glass of wine for a November supper.
Roasted Root Vegetable Slab Pie in a Gluten Free Corn Flour Crust
Ingredients for crust:
- 2 cups gluten-free corn flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill brand)
- A pinch of sea salt
- 2 tsp thyme leaves
- 1/2 cup shredded Gruyere Cheese
- 1/2 stick butter cut into small pieces & frozen
- 1 egg
- ice water
Ingredients for roasted vegetables:
- 2 parsnips, peeled & cut into chunks
- 1 carrot, peeled & cut into chunks
- 1 sweet potato, peeled & cut into chunks
- 6 baby new potatoes, cut in half
- 1/2 sweet yellow onion, cut into chunks
- 1/2 orange or yellow bell pepper cut into thick slivers
- 4 garlic cloves
- a few tablespoons of olive oil
- Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup shredded Gruyere Cheese (divided)
- 4 ounces softened herb goat cheese
- 4 to 6 ounces Feta cheese
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Place all the chunked vegs & garlic cloves on a sheet pan. Drizzle on a few tablespoons of olive oil, black pepper & sea salt. Toss well.
- Bake vegs just until al dente. About 12 minutes. Remove from oven to cool a bit. Turn oven down to 375 degrees.
- While the vegs are roasting make the crust. Put the corn flour in the bowl of a food processor along with the pinch of sea salt & thyme leaves. Pulse a few times to mix.
- Add 1/4 cup of the Gruyere shreds & cold butter pieces to the bowl and pulse until the mixture becomes grainy.
- Add the egg & pulse a few times. Drizzle in the ice water until a soft dough forms. Scrape dough from the processor bowl. Form into a flatten dough ball, wrap in plastic and chill while vegs are cooling or for about 15 minutes.
- Press chilled dough into the bottom and up the sides of a baking sheet pan using your fingers.
- Scatter the remaining 1/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese over the bottom of the crust & top with dollops of the softened herbed goat cheese.
- Scatter the roasted vegs over the cheeses & top with pieces of Feta cheese.
- Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until the crust browns & vegs are softened. Serve hot or warm with a side salad of arugula or baby kale & a glass of your favorite wine. A good way to end a November weekend, with some leftovers for later in the week.
Note: This would also be great cut into smaller pieces to serve as an appetizer during the Holidays. Add chunks of butternut squash or pumpkin.
This was my first time using corn flour to make a savory pie crust. It is like a shortbread crust rather than a flakey crust which was really great with the roasted sweetness of the root vegs.
I am telling you it is delicious, i love the pictures
Always a pleasure to receive one of your posts Teresa! Rustic simplicity and beautifully presented.
I love each and every component of this – yummy!
Johanne and Sarah, thanks so much. This was one of the best of my recent recipes and what a great way to use all these seasonal vegs.
love the contrasting cast of blue against the orange root veggies, really beautiful
Nance, thanks so much. Yes, I love the winter blue light…just love it although it can be bothersome when shooting some dishes, but with natural light you get what you get and have to work with it don’t you?
Lovely photos….
This looks great! Proof that a veggie focused dish can be an entree. I love some root vegetables.
It seems that we often have veggie based entrees at our house just because we love them so much. Interesting how that all works out isn’t it? Thanks for your comments.
🙂
Namzi, and a big big smile back to you.
this looks fabulous….my kind of meal….anxious to try it!!!
Barbara thanks so much for stopping by. Always so great to hear from you. Wouter loved this..we had it for two nights and then he ate the remaining bits for lunch!
Simply gorgeous, and yummy sounding idea! And you are right, the blue hue is lovely. It contrasts the orange colors so well.
That looks so yummy!!
Thanks Farmer Khaiti and Whitney…Much appreciated.
yummy looking but not on my secret diet.
Whit and Terry…yes it was yummy in all ways and it could be on your secret diet…low fat, low carbs, no gluten…yummy.
Lovely clicks!!! I was wondering can we make this can be made with cornmeal??
Yes absolutely you could use cornmeal. I used the corn flour because I had a bag left over from a photo shoot and wanted to try it as a gluten free crust and it was so crispy and delicious. But I think cornmeal would work, maybe a bit more crunchy, but equally delicious. Let me know how it turns out if you make this with cornmeal. Thanks for your nice comments.
Now that our summer gardens are a thing of the past, root vegetables play a bigger part in our meals. Your pie makes good use of them.
Karen as always thank you for coming over to visit Food on Fifth. Happy Thanksgiving.
I’m always looking for yummy GF recipes, this is a must try!
It really is good and you could be as creative as you want with the vegs and cheese or whatever you might want to experiment with.
Yum, this looks great! Perfect for a vegetarian 🙂
I made this dish 3 times over Thanksgiving (going to different sides of the family for meals) and each time folks told me how much they loved it!