By Yotam Ottolenghi
- Total Time
- 2 ½ hours, plus chilling and cooling
- Rating
- 4(915)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This comforting pie makes a great vegetarian centerpiece, ideal for a celebration. It benefits from being assembled the day before, receiving a good amount of time to set in the fridge and thus involving a lot less work on the day you plan to enjoy it. You can also bake the whole thing a few hours in advance, then just reheat it in the oven for 20 minutes, if you like. Use any extra pastry trim to cut out fun, festive shapes like holly leaves or stars to personalize your pie. Serve this alongside roasted veggies or a big leafy salad.
Featured in: A Holiday Surprise From Yotam Ottolenghi
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Ingredients
Yield:8 servings
- 1small (2-pound) butternut squash, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1tablespoon maple syrup
- ½teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Fine sea salt and black pepper
- 1large leek, trimmed, halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced crosswise
- 8scallions, trimmed and finely chopped
- 3garlic cloves, minced
- 1tablespoon plus 1½ teaspoons za’atar
- ¼ pound Swiss or rainbow chard, leaves and stems finely chopped (about 2 cups)
- ¾cup/6 ounces cream cheese
- ⅔cup/3½ ounces finely crumbled feta
- 2(14-ounce) sheets puff pastry
- 1large egg, beaten
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
775 calories; 55 grams fat; 17 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 29 grams monounsaturated fat; 6 grams polyunsaturated fat; 59 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 13 grams protein; 583 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Step
2
In a large bowl, mix together the butternut squash, maple syrup and cinnamon with 1 tablespoon oil and 1 teaspoon salt. Spread onto a large baking sheet and bake until just cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool for 15 minutes, then transfer back to the bowl and refrigerate until needed.
Step
3
Meanwhile, add the remaining 3 tablespoons oil to a medium saucepan; heat over medium-high. Once hot, stir in the leek, scallions, garlic and 1 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until the leeks have softened but not browned, about 8 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon za’atar and stir 1 minute more, until fragrant, then stir in the chard and 1 tablespoon water. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, just until the leaves have wilted, then remove from the heat. Transfer the mixture to a separate bowl and set aside to cool for 15 minutes, then refrigerate until needed.
Step
4
In a medium bowl, use a spatula to combine the cream cheese, feta and a good crack of pepper. Stir this into the butternut squash mixture then return to the fridge.
Step
5
On a clean work surface, unroll or unfold both sheets of puff pastry; roll each into a 10-by-16-inch rectangle. Cut one sheet down to a 6-by-16-inch rectangle, and, if you like, use small festive cutters to cut out shapes from the trim. Place the trimmed puff pastry sheet on a large, parchment-lined baking sheet; pierce it all over with a fork then use a knife to lightly mark a 1-inch border around the edges.
Step
6
Spoon the cooled leek mixture on top of the base of the trimmed puff pastry sheet, avoiding the edges, then dollop the butternut squash mixture on top. Brush the border with some of the beaten egg. Take your other sheet of pastry, drape it over the pie and trim the excess dough. Use a fork to press down and seal the border, then trim and discard any rough edges. Brush the pie and the cutouts (if using) with some of the remaining beaten egg, then arrange the cutouts on top of the pie. Sprinkle all over with the remaining 1½ teaspoons za’atar. Refrigerate the pie on its baking sheet, uncovered, for at least 1 hour, or overnight if getting ahead.
Step
7
When ready to bake the pie, heat the oven to 425 degrees.
Step
8
Bake the chilled pie until golden, about 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and cook for a further 45 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for at least 20 minutes. Transfer onto a large platter or board, slice crosswise into segments and serve warm or at room temperature.
Ratings
4
out of 5
915
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Cooking Notes
Marci
Looks fantastic and it is on the list for this weekend... I have found that Trader Joe's puff pastry is the best... it's only available seasonally... and this is the season to pick it up!
Company Worthy!
Really delicious. The only change I made was using a Kale/Baby Spinach blend instead of Swiss Chard. Beautiful presentation and despite a lengthy looking recipe, pretty simple. No need to refrigerate anything between steps. Assembly was very easy. I will make this again, but may consider using goat cheese instead of cream cheese with the feta.
ZZmommi
You can make your own za’atar - it’s a blend of spices, lots of recipes online
Drew
Made this for xmas lunch and it was the favorite dish served by far. I did prep the dish the day before and then just assembled and baked in the morning. Very easy recipe. I did substitute goat for the feta as my mom dislikes feta. Mom gets what she wants at this point of her life. I actually felt the substitution was excellent. Lastly, i didn’t see it mentioned in the recipe but I poked a few holes into the puff pastry to let steam escape and a crispy crust was had by all.
George
Step 0 - take the cream cheese out to soften. This will make Step 4 much easier and you won't smash the butternut squash into mush.
Victoria
Made this last night and it was beautiful and delicious. I roasted the squash, cut in half, skin side down with the maple syrup mixture on it. After it was cooked, I peeled and cubed it- way faster. Mixed feta with chèvre and added 2 egg yolks because they were left from another recipe. Used spinach instead of chard and that worked well. Added some chilies. Didn’t cool as long as the recipe said as I was running out of time. Perfectly balanced flavours.
Marsha
This was delicious, but the photo is misleading. The pie was massive - at least twice a big as the photo depicts. Also, the directions for the pastry are confusing. The bottom layer is 10 x 16 and the top layer is 6 x 16, but the top layer has to cover a mountain of filling and it says to use a fork to seal the edges. I folded the bottom layer with the egg wash over the top layer and then sealed.
Shirley P
The direction could have been clearer, I had to read it though a couple of times to see that the trimmed pastry is the bottom layer:[Spoon the cooled leek mixture on top of the base of the trimmed puff pastry sheet.....Take your other sheet of pastry, drape it over the pie and trim the excess dough.]They should have made this into more steps with more white space between the steps and/or put the size of each sheet in the step.I'm glad you were able to salvage it.
HCee
What do you think about goat cheese instead of feta? I love feta but have a whole log of goat right now!
Avani
I don’t see any reason it won’t. Go for it!
Kristin
You may be able to find gluten free puff pastry at your local health food store or Whole Foods. An option might be to make Yotam’s butternut squash fondue pie, which I’ve made, with GF filo dough I purchased at my health food store. Very good!!!
laurel
I added thinly sliced portabella caps ,sauteed in sesame oil. Layered on top of the squash gave this hearty and well appreciated dish a slightly earthier flavor.
Mimi bee
Delicious, aromatic and beautiful presentation. The bottom crust was over-baked and difficult to cut. I blame my well- insulated oven which likely didn’t drop to 350 as quickly as an older oven. Next time, I will place the cold ‘pie’ in a preheated 425 and then immediately lower to 350.This was worth making and perfect for a holiday meal. I was wishing I had some whole cranberry-orange relish to accompany.
Colleen
The za’tar was really over powering. Would use way less next time so I can taste the other flavors. Also the recipe should say to add holes in the top to vent the steam - we followed the recipe and didn’t and ended up with the dreaded soggy bottom :(
Sharon B
To Cali Oma: The trick with a pie like this is to control moisture so it doesn't end up soggy. This is probably why he calls for roasting it. Also, for the nice roasty notes you get in the oven, of course.
mods
Delicious! When I make it again I won’t bother weighing out the quarter pound of chard and will simply use the whole bunch. I did use two rather than one leek and I think it benefits from the larger ratio of leek/chard to squash mix.
Enterthewoods
Ohhhh... just make this. You won't regret it.
orlando bloom
Really great. His recipes are a bit complex but great. I need to up my aesthetics on my pastry
vh
Delicious, excellent vegetarian main dish. Swapped cream cheese for goat cheese and Swiss chard for spinach as I couldn’t find chard. Added roasted mushrooms to the mixture and my family was very happy with the result.
socsci
The most difficult step for me is rolling out the puff pastry. Is rolling puff pastry necessary for any reason other than to get a big enough piece? Could I just use the puff pastry out of the box if I cut down the amount of filling appropriately? Otherwise, not so hard to make, and I and my guests love this "banquet pie."
Cesaera
Really great!! * Ottolenghi's recipe calls for only1.4# of squash - not 2# as listed here I swapped the amounts of cream cheese and Feta to have a stronger flavor. I added between the two layers, a bag of pre-cooked chestnuts that I roughly chopped and tossed with roasted garlic and oil. Nice touch. As for the trimmed pastry - cover it with cinnamon sugar - roll it up, slice it, and flatten to make a handful of palmier-type cookies to bake with the dinner. Will definitely make again
shut in
This was good I made with sourdough pizza dough (enriched with olive oil recipe from the food geek YouTube). Made it like a giant calzone. It was really good.
DJ
I made this as written except for the assembly as I wasn’t sure if I had enough puff pastry. I laid out the pastry I had and placed the ingredients then rolled it. The result was fine but it did end up with the ‘base’ layer on the side. If I did the same thing again, I would spend the leek/chard mixture over the whole width of the pastry so that you got some of it in every bite.
Canadagirly
Absolutely delicious!
Namelise
I would reduce the cream cheese and/or sub goat cheese. Much too rich. Remember to chill.
Angela
Maybe try phyllo dough
Susan P.
My daughter loved this. I swapped out spinach for swiss chard and added mushrooms. Would def. make again. I did have trouble finding puff pastry-for the commentor who mentioned Trader Joe's is is only sold seasonally.
Kimmyb65
Made this today & loved it.It takes awhile to prepare but well worth the time.I did soften the cream cheese per another review and that worked well. Also used a blend of chard, spinach & kale as that’s what I had. I may substitute the feta for goat cheese next time. Was a great meatless meal & I will definitely make again.
Leanne
If baked and frozen what would instructions be to re-heat? Thaw first? Heat in oven from frozen?
Sarah
Wonderful flavors and can easily be adapted to whatever greens/onions/cheese you have on hand. Made as a covered pie with a single top crust and it was delicious!
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