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It's winter, a time of turning your oven on to heat the kitchen, of cats crawling into your sweater, of branches bare & reaching out to an ever dark sky. For some, deep winter brings feelings of coziness, spending time with loved ones, etc. For me and others, it's a time to put your head down and dig deeper, the best time of the year to do all the soul rending and research and plumbing of the depths that's impossible in the gaze of the sun. I spend winters bundled up in various rooms throughout the city, windowless or barely windowed at all, somehow letting the passage of the year escape me until, blinking, bewildered, I step outside to visit the cherry blossoms. This mix is a quick tour through that headspace; a meandering stroll along the lake in the deep of night, of lingering loss and anguish and care, to be paired with the complete cooking process. The pie is simple, yet hearty β may it provide some emotional aftercare during these dark days.
KEMC'S WINTER ROOT PIE
INGREDIENTS
- 1 Sweet Potato, diced
- Pearl/Broiler Onions (1 box/bag)
- Splish of olive oil or an amount of butter
- Pinch or two of salt
- 1-5 Garlic Cloves (go nuts if yr feeling it)
- 2-3 Red or Yukon Gold Potatoes, diced
- 2 Parsnips, chopped
- Handful of favorite mushrooms, destemmed and sliced (Shiitake is a good general purpose 'shroom, but if you come across lobster mushroomsβ¦β¦β¦)
- Half a fist or so of flour
- Yr Fav Canned Soup (Lentil Veg is the best but you do you)
- Puff Pastry sheet (you could make your own but the store bought
Optional Additions:
- shallot β onion but different and smaller. Nice sometimes but also slightly redundant
- Handful of Walnuts β crush them in your perfect hand & toss them in towards the end of the stove cooking
- Spices ETC β I usually go for Cayenne, Rosemary, more salt, sometimes fennel. You can go wild and throw in some crushed up cloves.
- Meat/Subs β soyrizo is pretty good β dunno about real meat but I think Hard Meats would probbo work better than like, fish
- Formerly dried pasta (as in you cook it first and then add) is a weird but ok choice
- Cheese β slap it on (or under the crust) after it comes out of the oven for a lil bit of extra richness. Goat is cool.
It's your pie now bby
METHOD
1. Set your oven for 375 and take the puff pastry sheet out of the freezer.
2. Bring a sizable pot of water to boil. It's gotta be big enough to hold all your veggies (aka the filling). Toss in onions and sweet potato, and cook for 10 min.
3. Dump out the water but retain the pot β leave in the sweet potato, take the onions out to peel them and then put them back in.
4. Add the cooking medium (oil or butter) to the pot. Low and slow (but in the higher end of low) is the name of the game. Add potatoes, garlic, shallot and parsnips. Drop some salt in and cover the pot with a lid.
5. Cook for 20-30 minutes. You can flip shit around if so inclined. I like to add spices, mushrooms, walnuts, and whatever else i'm feeling at this point.
6. Once everything is more or less cooked, throw in your fistful of flour. You want everything to be coated in it.
7. Pour in the can of soup and mix well. This is the glue that holds your filling together. Cook for a few more minutes to thicken everything up.
8. Pour the filling into a 9β pie pan. Metal, glass, whatever. No need to grease, the crust only goes on top.
9. Cover the mixture with the puff pastry sheet, and press it against the pan to create a seal. You might need to do a lil knifework to get everything lined up ok; I sometimes make a FaNcY decoration out of excess sheeting. Cut an x in the center to act as a steam vent.
10. Place pie on top rack in the oven and bake until puff pastry is both PUFFED and GOLDEN, about 25-30 minutes.
11. Let cool so you don't burn your mouth like a big freaking idiot.