Looking for a delicious and unique twist on traditional pies? Look no further than these mouthwatering easy recipe for Curried Lentil and Pumpkin Pies. These savory pies (with a subtle sweetness of the pumpkin) are packed with flavor and are sure to be a hit at your next family get together and please even the hard core meat eaters in your family
We fell in love with these vegan pies after dining at our local vegetarian café. It was a no brainer what we were going to order every time we went there. It was a standard order of curried lentil and pumpkin pie with a ginormous side serving of several salads.
Needless to say it was definitely a high fiber affair. After our café trip I decided it was time to create our own version.
Coming up with the perfect recipe wasn’t as easy as I had first thought but after giving it a go it was a piece of cake…sorry pie!!
Ingredients For Curried Lentil and Pumpkin Pies.
Onion – any colour and super finely diced. We used a yellow onion for this recipe.
Carrot & Celery – finely diced
Garlic – just one clove crushed
Curry Powder – quick and easy and smell yum
Cumin – to give it that interesting vibe
Pumpkin – precooked and slightly mashed but not pumpkin purée. We used fresh pumpkins not tinned.
Lentils – tinned brown lentils, drained. One of those perfect pantry staples. I haven’t tried this pie recipe using dry red lentils and then cooking them. (might give it a go though)
Shortcrust pastry – premade from the supermarket is quick and makes for an easy pie dough. No fussing around
Veggie stock cube – a biggish sized stock cube or two smaller ones.
Olive oil – just a little to fry off the veggies and spices till aromatic. You can use coconut oil if you prefer.
Why you’ll love this recipe for Curried Lentil Hand Pumpkin Pies
Simple Ingredients: You’ll probably have the ingredients for these yum curried lentil and pumpkin pies on hand at home. If not a quick trip to the local supermarket will have anything you might be missing. Sometimes it’s great to have a few of these vegan meals up your sleeve for when someone who’s not a meat lover comes around.
2 Spice Combo: Cumin and curry powder is all you need. The combination of the earthy lentils combined with the sweet pumpkin and spices add a great texture and unique taste.
Satisfying : They are rather filling.
Quick: Pre-made shortcrust pastry makes this recipe a quick one.
Fibre Content: High in fibre (4g)
Customize: Can make them smaller or a larger pie if you prefer.
Nutritional Value of Lentils These small lentils contain plenty of protean (7g), fibre, potassium, folate, iron and more. We love using brown canned lentils so you might like our Awesome Vegan Chili Con Carne Recipe
Great to use if you have oodles of leftover pumpkin. For other perfect pumpkin recipes you might also like our Pumpkin Quinoa Patties. (such a versatile ingredient)
Recipe Tips
A food processor can save time with cutiing the carrots, celery and onions. It may make it extra fine blend, but will still work fine, it will just be a creamy texture.
Try the
How to make these Curried Lentil and Pumpkin Pies Step by Step Instructions
1. Preparing the pastry cases
Preheat oven at180 degrees Celsius grab your sheet of frozen shortcrust pastry and allow to thaw on kitchen bench. Grease your containers with cooking spray and set aside on a tray.
When workable cut one sheet into four and place inside foiled trays or container of your choice and mould lightly into a pie shape.(they’ll look a little rustic).
Bake in oven for 10 to 15 minutes till just golden. (you shouldn’t need to use paper and beans to weigh down shortcrust pastry during blind baking as it won’t rise very much at all).
2. How to make the curried lentil and pumpkin pie filling
Into a frypan place the diced onion, carrots, garlic, celery, veggie stock cube and olive oil and cook till softened on medium heat. Hint- the smaller the carrots are dice the quicker they’ll cook.
Add the curry powder and cumin and cook for a minute till aromatic.
Drain the lentils and add to the the fried onion, carrot mix along with the mashed pumpkin, give them a good stir to combine and cook for a few minutes.
Allow to cool slightly and then pop into the pie cases. (if adding cheese pop on before you place into the oven).
Cook in oven for approximately 15-20 minutes. (the pie filling is actually cooked so it’s just reheating and allowing the filling to meld with the pie cases). Add a bit of an egg wash onto the pastry case edges if you like but to keep it vegan use a tiny bit of plant milk if you like.
Watch how to make thies delicious pumpkin lentil curry pies
Topping Suggestions
Cheese – Feel free to add some grated cheese on top before baking or use a vegan cheese alternative. Just a nice thing and something a little different.
Greek yogurt or sour cream – just a dollop just before serving.
Seeds – The list is endless. Adding some sesame seeds, poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds or even flax seed to give that added texture and toasty crunch.
Variations and Substituions – How to add more flavour
For this curried lentil and pumpkin pie recipe we’ve used curry powder and cumin but feel free to change up the spices to suit your taste. Add some turmeric, cayenne pepper and coriander if you prefer to the spice mix.
Use a premade curry paste from a jar if you prefer.
Add finely chopped fresh chili to add that extra bit of heat.
Top with cheese before cooking for an extra tasty addition and sprinkle with fresh coriander.
Swap out the pumpkin for mashed red sweet potatoes or keep it chunkier if you prefer.
Stock – add a small abount of liquid vegetable stock instead of a stock cube if you would like to loosen up the pumpkin mixture.
Make a large pie instead of individual smaller ones. Place the filling into a greased casserole dish and top with the pastry instead of it on the bottom. Cut a tiny hole in the centre for the steam. Glaze with a beaten egg to make it nice and golden brown.
Curried Lentil and Pumpkin Pies Recipe
Curried Lentil and Pumpkin Pies
Equipment
- 4 small pie tins or one large pie tin
- frypan
Ingredients
- 350 g cooked mashed pumpkin
- 1 400 g lentils
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 1 onion diced finely
- 2 stalks celery diced finely
- 1 carrot diced finely
- 1 veggie stock cube
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 sheets pre-made shortcrust pastry
- 2 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 180 degrees Celsius. Grab one or two sheets of the shortcrust pastry and allow to thaw on the bench till workable.
- Grease your pie tins* with cooking spray and set aside. When the pastry is workable cut into four squares and shape into the pie tins if making individual pies.
- Pop onto a tray and bake the cases for 10-15 minutes in the oven till lightly golden. (no need to blind bake as the shortcrust pastry shouldn't rise too much). Allow to cool while you prep the filling.
- Dice your onion, celery and carrot finely and crush the garlic.
- Pop into a frypan with 2 tabs of olive oil and veggie stock cube on medium heat and cook till soft.
- Add the cumin and curry powder and cook for 1 minute till fragrant.
- Drain and rinse your can of lentils and add to the onion mix along with the pumpkin and cook for a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.
- Allow to cool slightly before popping filling into the pie cases. Pop onto a tray and top with grated cheese if you like and cook for approximately 15-20 minutes. or until lightly golden brown with a little cruchiness on the edges.
Notes
- * We found that individual pie cases were a little hard to come by, so used foil ones instead.
- Glaze with an egg wash on the edges of the pastry cases to make them extra golden brown or use plant milk to keep it vegan recipe.
Nutrition
Storage and Reheating Your Pumpkin and Curried Lentil Pies
Keep any leftover pumpkin hand pies in an airtight container in the fridge. They make an awesome meal prep lunch that will be the talk of the lunchroom.
Reheating in the microwave may turn them a bit soft. I like to reheat in a moderate oven for around 10-15 minutes or until warmed through on the inside.
We just love pumpkin and find it’s not jand ingredient uses ust for winter meals. We also enjoy it in a salad and is one of our other easy pumpkin recipes, our Roaste Pumpkin Rocket and Feta Salad. it’ only has 4 ingredients and mixed together makes the best flavours.
