Serves: 6-8
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 50 to 60 minutes
Oven temperature: 200 ̊C

Vegetables
• 1 small red and 1 yellow pepper, seeded and cubed
• 1 small onion, peeled and cut into wedges
• 1 small brinjal, cubed
• 4 baby gem squash, halved
• 30ml olive oil

Pastry
• 500ml cake flour
• 2ml salt
• 150g cold butter, cut into cubes
• 50ml finely grated Parmesan
• 45ml ice-cold water

Filling
• 60ml pesto of your choice
• 200g cheese of your choice, cubed or crumbled (mature Cheddar, feta, blue cheese or goats’ cheese work well)
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 Vegetables Place all the vegetables in a roasting tin. Drizzle with olive oil and toss well to coat. Roast in a preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes until just tender, tossing once during cooking. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.

2 Pastry Sift the cake flour and salt. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the Parmesan, then add the water a little at a time, to form a ball. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Remove from the fridge and leave to stand at room temperature until slightly softened. Roll out onto a lightly floured surface to form a large circle about 5mm thick. Roll the pastry up around a rolling pin, then carefully unroll it onto a greased baking tray.

3 Filling Put the vegetables in a mixing bowl, and add the pesto and the cheese. Toss to coat. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

4 Spread the filling out on the pastry, leaving a 3cm rim right round. Fold the edges of the pastry up over the vegetables. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg. Bake in a preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes at 200°C until the pastry is golden and crisp.

Cook’s tips
• Try not to handle the pastry too much. As soon it comes together during mixing, cover it with clingfilm to prevent it from drying out, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Allow the pastry to come to room temperature again before rolling it out, as it will be difficult to work with if it is too cold and stiff.
• Vary the vegetables according to your preference. Try roasting cubed butternut or sweet potato. Make sure that your vegetables are properly cool before putting them onto the pastry. If they are too warm, they may melt the pastry and cause it to break.
• Add a few olives to the pie for extra flavour or include canned, drained artichokes or drained, marinated sundried tomatoes.
• You’ll find bottled pesto in the pasta section of your supermarket, and fresh pesto in the deli section. Basil, rocket, sundried tomato or roasted red-pepper pesto will all be excellent in this pie.

Text and image source: Ideas magazine