Little Jack Horner is waiting for his lunch...

September 11, 2010 4:12 PM

Help me fill a pastry: non-meat, non-fruit, pie fillings.

I'm looking for suggestions for "pie" (using the term loosely here) fillings that meet the following criteria:

- no meat (including fish and seafood)
- no fruit
- no soy products
- foods found in nature
- eggs, veggies, cheese, nuts, pretty much anything else ok
- a low number of ingredients
- finished pie should not need to be refrigerated
- if possible, filling should be suitable for a "two crust" pie, because its actually going to be be cooked inside a lunch pastry.

AskMe often excels at cooking questions, I can't wait to see your suggestions.

posted by anastasiav to food & drink (29 answers total)

I really like this lentil quiche recipe. It doesn't call for a crust, but I always make it in one. I don't know about refrigeration, though.
posted by emilyd22222 at 4:16 PM on September 11, 2010

Spinach and cheese
posted by Quizicalcoatl at 4:16 PM on September 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

Honey pecan

Are you looking for sweet or savory?
posted by thirteenkiller at 4:18 PM on September 11, 2010

Two of my favorite pies are Pecan and Sweet Potato. I'm sorry I don't have any specific recipes, but those two flavors would fit your criteria except the two crusts (but still might work.)
posted by TooFewShoes at 4:19 PM on September 11, 2010

mashed potatoes with cheese. colcannon or champ (mashed potato with leeks or cabbage) with cheese.

sliced boiled potatoes, blue cheese, onion.

samosa fillings - again, potato, peas, other vegetables as you like, with curry spices.

any roasted root vegetables, spiced however you like.

spinach wilted and squeezed very dry, with cheese.

roasted butternut squash with sage and brown butter.

roasted tomatoes, goat cheese, and olives.

For filling a pastry, you don't really need classic wet pie fillings. you might want to search for "hand pies."
posted by peachfuzz at 4:19 PM on September 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

chestnut paste!
posted by Bwithh at 4:19 PM on September 11, 2010

Tomato and corn pie.
posted by elsietheeel at 4:21 PM on September 11, 2010

Are you looking for sweet or savory?

Savory. This would be sort of in place of a sandwich for lunch.
posted by anastasiav at 4:22 PM on September 11, 2010

Vegan Jamaican Patties

It looks like a lot of ingredients but it's mostly spices and the patties are tasty. Also a good place to start and experiment from there (adding beans, etc.)
posted by radiomayonnaise at 4:24 PM on September 11, 2010

I have an egg-and-onion pie recipe (somewhere), bit more "appetizer" than main course, and VERY oniony, but doable. You can find a dozen recipes online.

Also, this mushroom-and-cheese pie is VERY good. Just delicious.

But not totally sure by what you mean by not refrigerating ... just until lunch would be okay with both, I think, but not, like, indefinitely.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:27 PM on September 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

I love Chilean empanadas. They're usually filled with meat, but you could totally sub veggies. I've never made them, but here is a recipe.
posted by i_am_a_fiesta at 4:27 PM on September 11, 2010

So when you say not refrigerated, you just mean between when you take it out of your refrigerator in the morning and when you eat it for lunch? You'd cook it completely at the outset? I'm imagining basically a pizza dough folded in half. I think pie dough might be hard to work with. So with that in mind...

Basically it's a calzone, so ricotta with an egg and a pinch of nutmeg and a teaspoon or so of grated parmesan cheese, and enough mozzarella to get the fat level to one you're comfortable with. That's a basic formula for the insides that will have enough integrity to not run all over the place -- and the you could do:

Basic stuffing plus cooked (previously cooked) spinach
Basic stuffing plus cooked chicken and sun-dried tomatoes
Basic stuffing plus black olives and cooked chard

So, that's one avenue.

Another thing I'd probably try is a stuffing made of mashed potatoes, cooked broccoli, and cheddar cheese. It would be tricky to get the potatoes right, because I think you'd need them wetter than what you'd usually want but not so wet that they soaked the crust.

And then if you wanted to go lighter:

Sauteed mushrooms, feta cheese, toasted walnuts

Spinach, feta, olives

Green olives, cooked cauliflower, capers, feta

Cheddar and broccoli

Caramelized onions, capers, havarti

Roasted red peppers, anchovies, capers, fresh mozzarella

Fresh mozzarella and pesto

I could seriously do this pretty much indefinitely so I'll stop now.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 4:28 PM on September 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

Thekitchn did a nice technique article on turning Thanksgiving leftovers into handpies. However, pretty much any food that tastes good together works. Most of them taste better warm, but I've never had trouble eating them at lunch when they're unrefrigerated from home to lunchtime.

I have successfully done: sweet potato & pine nut; diced carrot, pea & corn; garlic, cheese & spinach; tomato, (carmelized) onion & gruyere (or feta). I also like cream cheese with jalepeno jam or mango chutney.
posted by crush-onastick at 4:40 PM on September 11, 2010

You might consider making a batch of pasties (pronounced "pass-tee") for lunches. Here's the basic method, just leave out the meat & substitute any veg protein, like kidney beans.

Some veggie pasty recipes.

Unlike a whole pie, pasties can be made and frozen individually. Alternatively, you can make a couple of whole pies, cut, and freeze the slices in baggies. Use a straw to suck out most of the air.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 4:41 PM on September 11, 2010

Think vegetarian South Asian and Caribbean. Find some curry-esque recipes you like, make sure the mixture iis fairly dry instead of soupy, and go to town!

Chana Masala would work beautifully (it would be a lot like doubles) . Anything potato/spinach/maybe peas/maybe chickpeas or lentils would also be great. Improvise!
posted by maudlin at 4:51 PM on September 11, 2010

Mushroom Strudel.
posted by Morrigan at 4:54 PM on September 11, 2010

Tomato and cheese. I've never made it, but I've eaten it and it's good.
posted by madcaptenor at 5:23 PM on September 11, 2010

I feel like any burrito filling would be nice. Sweet potato and black bean would be ridiculously awesome. Good at any temp.
posted by donnagirl at 5:41 PM on September 11, 2010

So when you say not refrigerated, you just mean between when you take it out of your refrigerator in the morning and when you eat it for lunch?

In this case, think "will be cooked in a fairly large quantity in the morning and set out for people to nosh on all afternoon". But, yeah, what you said would work to.
posted by anastasiav at 5:45 PM on September 11, 2010

anastasiav: "This would be sort of in place of a sandwich for lunch"

Consider the pasty.

Cheese, Onion and Potato
Sweet Potato
Curried Parsnip and Potato
posted by Bonzai at 6:11 PM on September 11, 2010

Vegetarian Cornish Pastie!!!!
posted by Bwithh at 7:40 PM on September 11, 2010

actually for a more authentic vegetarian cornish pastie, use savory filling (the main course) for 2/3 or 3/4 of the pie and a sweet apple or berry filling (the dessert) for the last 1/3 or 1/4. eat like a 19th century Cornish miner who can't afford to buy mutton this week!
posted by Bwithh at 7:43 PM on September 11, 2010

I'm not if this is what you're looking for since everyone else is suggesting quiche-like pies, but custard pie is excellent. I like coconut custard particularly, but you could make any kind of custard you like.
posted by maryr at 7:43 PM on September 11, 2010

Oops, sorry, just reread comments and saw that you're looking for savory. Mods are welcome to delete these two comments, sorry!
posted by maryr at 7:44 PM on September 11, 2010

Almost any curry that isn't super-runny tastes awesome in a pastry, a la samosas.
posted by Foam Pants at 10:01 PM on September 11, 2010

Google "leek tart." Some recipes call for bacon, but I never put it in. It is always well received.
posted by wandering_not_lost at 10:03 PM on September 11, 2010

Baklava
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:19 AM on September 12, 2010

Some common fillings for Russian pirozhki:

-Rice, hard-boiled eggs, butter, dill
-Buckwheat, butter, and hard-boiled eggs, fried onions, or mushrooms
-Mushrooms fried with onions and sour cream
-Fried cabbage or sauerkraut and hard-boiled eggs
posted by parudox at 10:27 AM on September 12, 2010

I'd suggest raiding the menu of Pot Pie Paradise, a place around here that will think up anything tasty and vaguely filling-like, stuff it between two crusts to see if it goes, and if it does, package it and sell it. That place is awesome. They have 10 vegetarian listings on their regular menu (see link above) and a few more on their weekly specials. I can't write them all out right now, but I hope some of them will be inspiring (flavors from Indonesia, France, Greece, Italy, the US, etc.)!
posted by wintersweet at 10:29 AM on September 12, 2010