Hello everyone, let’s savor phyllo vegan pumpkin pasties for the Christmas party and New Year! Who doesn’t love mince pies during the Holiday season? I can eat a ton of them, but, there is only so much rich buttery pasty you can eat, without the risk of gaining extra pounds during holidays. Dilemma? Solved! Thanks to phyllo dough and its almost zero-calorie properties, we can enjoy our low-calorie Lenten pumpkin pastries in abundance and be proud of our vegetable intake!
EDIBLE CHRISTMAS WREATH ON YOUR HOLIDAY TABLE
Did I tell you that our pumpkin pasties will have a shape of a wreath covered with eye-catching pomegranate pearls and beautiful sage leaves decoration! What a showstopper! Serve them screaming hot for the appetizer and refreshments to your guests while the last main course preparations take place. No one will notice that they are enjoying a scrumptious meat-free appetizer!
Hands-on time? 15 minutes!
Impressions? Stand on applause!
If I convinced you, dear friends, let’s go!
Phyllo vegan pumpkin pasties recipe
STEP 1. All you have to do for the first step is to peel and cut butternut squash into 1-inch squares and bake it at 375 for 30 minutes. Thaw phyllo dough 3 hours prior to cooking.
STEP 2. Meanwhile, let’s make caramelized onions. Peel and slice onions, add olive oil and vegetarian butter in a saucepan with 1tbsp of brown sugar(secret ingredient!). Cover with a lid, reduce to lowest heat and forget for 25 minutes.
PRO-TIP: This caramelizing onion technique is described by Julia Child in her “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”. Adding sugar to slowly caramelizing onions takes the bitter smell and taste away, and relishes the natural sweetness of the onion.
STEP 3. When the butternut squash is ready and cooled off mix it with caramelized onion, lemon juice, sage, and a pinch of salt. Squash one-half of the mixture with the fork to create mashed potato consistency( this mixture will do the bidding for the rest of the feeling). Mix mashed filling with butternut squash pieces to get a savory mixture with little squash squares to chew and a soft feeling to savor.
STEP 4. Take one sheet of phyllo dough, fold it in half a place 6-8 sheets overlapping each other 1.5 inches apart. Place the filling on the edge of one side, roll once, fold the ends inside, and using rolling motion finish the log. Bend your log in the shape of a wreath and fix the sealing with extra sheets of dough to cover the seam and make the wreath look presentable. Bake at 350 for 15-20 min or until the wreath turns golden color.
STEP 5. Decorate with pomegranate kernels and sage leaves to create a beautiful edible wreath.
PHYLLO DOUGH MINCE PIES RECIPE
If the phyllo dough wreath doesn’t speak to you, you can easily create phyllo dough mince pies with the same ingredients at hand.
“If you eat a mince pie every day of the twelve days of Christmas, preferably in a different house each time, you will have a happy year, according to an old Yorkshire superstition. Minced meat is used to contain minced beef (hence the name) mixed with apples, dried fruit, suet, sugar, spices, and brandy. About 200 years ago beef gradually began to be left out. “(Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook by Dinah Bucholz)
Step 1 and the only one!
Fold phyllo dough sheet in half and then in half once more. Push it into the greased muffin tin, add one spoon of pumpkin filling (read the steps on how-to above) and cover with overlapping sheets of dough in any direction you like. Ready phyllo dough pumpkin pasties will have beautiful mountain shapes. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.
Decorate with pomegranate kernels and sage leaves for a festive look.
Phyllo dough mince pies look very artistically and this is a one-bite appetizer alternative to the phyllo pumpkin wreath we are doing today.
Choose what speaks to you and savor the treats that are equally fantastic!
Serve these New Year appetizers with pomegranate salad
Pomegranate glazed salmon is going to be a showstopper’s main dish in these festive pomegranate themes.
After eating this incredible meal, you will become a pinch happier, I promise!
Bon Appétit!
Ingredients
- 1 buternut squash
- 2 onion
- 1 pack phillo dough (thaw 3 hours prior to cooking at room temperature)
- 1 bunch fresh sage
- 1 tbsp. pomegranate kernels
- ½ lemon juice
- 100 gr. dried cranberrys
- 2 tbsp. sugar
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Prepare your ingredients. Thaw phyllo dough 3 hours prior to cooking.
- Wash, peel and cut butternut squash into 1 inch cubes. Bake at 350 for 30 min or until soft and easily pierced through with the fork.
- Meanwhile, let’s make caramelized onions. Peel and slice onions, add olive oil and vegetarian butter in a saucepan with 1tbsp of brown sugar(secret ingredient!). Cover with a lid, reduce to lowest heat and forget for 25 minutes.
- When the butternut squash is ready and cooled off mix it with caramelized onion, lemon juice, sage, and a pinch of salt. Squash one-half of the mixture with the fork to create mashed potato consistency( this mixture will do the bidding for the rest of the feeling). Mix mashed filling with butternut squash pieces to get a savory mixture with little squash squares to chew and a soft feeling to savor.
- Take one sheet of phyllo dough, fold it in half a place 6-8 sheets overlapping each other 1.5 inches apart. Place the filling on the edge of one side, roll once, fold the ends inside, and using rolling motion finish the log. Bend your log in the shape of a wreath and fix the sealing with extra sheets of dough to cover the seam and make the wreath look presentable. Bake at 350 for 15-20 min or until the wreath turns golden color.
- Decorate with pomegranate kernels and sage leaves to create a beautiful edible wreath.Bon Appétit!
