Cheese, tomato and aubergine pie
This easy cheese, tomato and aubergine pie makes a delicious and impressive vegetarian lunch. Serve with a side salad.
Ingredients
- 1 aubergine, thinly sliced lengthways
- 500g/1lb 2oz puff pastry
- plain flour, for dusting
- 150g/5½oz fontina, sliced
- 300²µ/10½´Ç³ú mozzarella, sliced
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú Parmesan, grated
- 200g/7oz wood-roasted piquillo peppers, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced or grated
- 2 beef tomatoes, thinly sliced
- 25g/1oz basil, leaves picked
- 150ml/5fl oz tomato passata
- 1 free-range egg, beaten
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lemon, juice only
- salad leaves
Method
Heat a griddle pan over a high heat and grill the aubergine slices on both sides. Set aside until you’re ready to assemble the pithivier.
Separate the pastry into two blocks, one slightly smaller and one slightly larger. Roll each block out into a circle, dusting the surface with flour as you go. The circles should be about 1cm/½in thick, and one slightly larger than the other.
Line a dish about 22cm/8½in in diameter with greaseproof paper. Lay the smaller pastry circle on top of the greaseproof paper, and layer the aubergines, cheese, peppers, garlic, tomatoes, basil and passata on top of the smaller pastry circle, leaving room around the outside to seal later. Season as you go.
Carefully lay the larger pastry circle over the top and seal around the outside with a dab of water. Turn the pithivier out onto a lined baking tray, decorate the top as you like and brush all over with beaten egg. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 6.
Brush the pithivier with another coat of egg wash, then bake for 30–40 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and risen.
Mix the oil and lemon juice to make a simple dressing and dress the salad leaves. Slice the pie into pieces and serve with the dressed salad.