Pesto and spinach Halloween hand pies
Pumpkin pie but not as you know it! These delightful pumpkin-shaped hand pies are filled with a tasty mixture of spinach and pesto.
Ingredients
- 50g/1¾oz baby spinach
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú ricotta
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú full-fat cream cheese
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú sun-dried tomato pesto
- 2 x 320g sheets ready-rolled shortcrust pastry
- 1 free-range egg, beaten
- plain flour, for dusting
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7 and line two flat baking trays with baking paper.
Place the spinach in a bowl and pour over boiling water to cover. Leave for 2 minutes until the spinach wilts and then drain. Leave to cool slightly and then squeeze out any excess water from the spinach.
Put the wilted spinach in a bowl with the ricotta, cream cheese and pesto. Mix to combine and season with salt and lots of black pepper. Set aside.
Roll out the pastry sheets and use a sharp knife to cut each pastry sheet into six equal squares, so there are 12 squares in total.
Use a sharp knife to carefully cut a pumpkin shape out of one of the pastry squares - it should take up most of the square, being around 12x11cm/4½inx4¼in in size. Use that as a template to trace around the rest of the squares so you have 12 matching pumpkin shapes. Set aside any pastry scraps.
Cut out mouth shapes from six of the pumpkins. Use the top of a piping nozzle to make eye shapes in the same six pumpkins.
Spoon 2 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture over one of the plain pumpkin shapes (without the mouth and eyes cut out) leaving a 1cm/½in border around all the edges.
Brush the border with the beaten egg and place a pumpkin face on top. Press down the edges to seal the filling and crimp with a fork all around. Repeat with all the other pumpkin shapes to create six pies.
Roll out the pastry scraps on a floured work surface – there should be enough to make two more pumpkin-shaped pies. Repeat the steps above to make the pies.
Place the pies on the baking trays, spacing evenly apart. Brush the tops with the remaining beaten egg and bake for 20–25 minutes until golden.
Leave to cool slightly and then serve.