Week 23 Dish 1: Vegan chickpea pie

Revision stress is finally getting to me, it's so hard to believe that finals are only 2 months away!! Scary stuff! Thank god I still have baking to calm me down, it's the perfect remedy.

There were many recipes that I found to potentially make as the centrepiece for my Christmas feast; it was really difficult to choose just one and eventually I chose a vegan festive roast, but there were some yummy recipes that I still wanted to try. This is one of them, a vegan chickpea tart - perfect for a festive dinner but a yummy main meal at any time of the year!

Serves 4-5
Ingredients
For the crust
Crust ingredients
For the filling
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced celery
4 minced garlic cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 cups chickpeas, reserve 1/3 cup
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp ground basil
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder (or to taste)
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup oats
300 g frozen spinach, thawed an squeezed to remove excess water (about 1 cup after squeezing)
1/4 cup dried cranberries (I just used sultanas)
1 tsp soya sauce/ 1/2 tbsp oil mixture
Method

1. Prepare the crust: Crust preparation
2. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
3. Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion, celery, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook for 9-10 minutes on a medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until softened and golden.
4. In a food processor, partially puree the chickpeas (except reserved 1/3 cup), lemon juice, soya sauce, basil, salt, chili powder and sauteed mixture. Add the walnuts and oats and pulse briefly.
5. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the spinach, cranberries and reserved chickpeas. Spoon the filling into the pie crust and smooth the top, brushing with the soya sauce/oil mixture.
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden on edges and top. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving!

Original recipe: Festive chickpea tart, pie crust