Cathy Katin-Grazzini
Cathy's Kitchen Prescription LLC
www.cathyskitchenprescription.com
 
Humble Pie
 
Vegetables, wrapped up in a bit of tasty dough, is all you need for this tasty Humble Pie. Use whatever steamed produce you have on hand. Here I had baked kabocha squash, steamed beans and greens, and a few roasted beets for color. Leftover dough trimmings also make tasty crackers, wafers, and breadsticks. Humble Pie is a colorful, delicious addition to any festive table.
 
Prep 45 minutes        Bake 25 minutes          Makes 1 nine-inch pie
 
Dough
1 cup roasted yellow pea flour, green pea flour, or chickpea flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour or for a gluten-free crust,  ¾ cup of quinoa flour plus ¾ cup buckwheat flour
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
2 tablespoons freshly ground golden flaxseeds
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
¾ teaspoon sodium-free and aluminum-free baking powder
Pinch ground white pepper
½ cup microwaved or steamed sweet potato pulp
½ cup silken tofu
¾ teaspoon fermented apple cider vinegar
½ teaspoon white miso paste
 
Filling
1 medium onion or 3 large shallots, cut in a medium dice
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 cup any leafy greens, cut in a chiffonade and steamed (no need to steam if using tender greens like spinach or Swiss chard leaves)
2 cups roasted winter squash, cut in a large dice
2 cups green beans, steamed and cut in 1-inch lengths
Splash of sodium-free vegetable broth to deglaze skillet
2 cups unsweetened soy or almond milk, heated
4 tablespoons white whole wheat flour or for gluten-free, 3 tablespoons tapioca flour
¼ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
A few grinds black pepper
3 tablespoons white miso paste, diluted in 3 tablespoons water, or to taste
 
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
If making your own legume flour, bake the peas or chickpeas at 250°F for 30 minutes. Cool and mill to create a fine flour. 
Combine all dry crust ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to mix. Add the cooked sweet potato pulp, tofu, miso paste, and vinegar. Run for up to 2 minutes or until the dough develops and gathers into a ball. The texture should be soft and pliant. Adjust with a bit more flour if it’s too wet or a bit more sweet potato pulp if it is too dry. Leave covered in the processor as you prepare the pie filling.
Heat a large skillet for 3 minutes over medium heat. Add the onion or shallots and thyme leaves. Dry sauté them, stirring occasionally until the alliums have softened, released some of their liquid, and begun to caramelize in the pan. Deglaze with a minimal amount of broth, stirring up their sugars from the pan.
Add your cooked vegetables, stirring to combine. Cook on low for 2 minutes to combine their flavors.
Warm the plant milk but do not boil.  In a saucepan add the flour or tapioca to a medium-sized bowl and use a small whisk to drizzle in the warmed milk to create a soft, lump-free roux.  Over medium-low heat whisk in the remaining heated milk and continue whisking until the sauce has thickened to the consistency of bechamel, that is, a thick cream. Grate the nutmeg over the pan and stir to incorporate it. Cook on low for few minutes. It the sauce becomes too dense, add a tablespoon of milk. The sauce should be dense but fluid enough to coat and flavor all the vegetable pie filling. Season with pepper and diluted miso paste to taste. Cover to keep warm.
Spring flour (legume or whole grain) over a large board. Roll out the dough into a large circle about ⅜-inch in thickness, flipping and reflouring as needed to prevent sticking. 
Fold the dough in quarters, transfer to a 9-inch glass pie plate. Press the dough in the pan’s sides and along the rim. Use a sharp paring knife to trim the excess dough that overhangs the pie plate’s perimeter. Gather the trimmings and wrap them in plastic.
Generously spoon in the creamy pie filling, mounding it in the center.
Flour the board and roll out the dough trimmings to ⅜-inch in thickness. Use a straight edge and a sharp paring knife to slice the dough in 1-inch strips for a lattice crust.
Starting in the center, lay down a long dough strip, then lay another strip perpendicularly, creating a cross. Continue to place strips vertically and horizontally, spaced about ½-inch apart and weaving them until the entire surface is covered. 
Wet a pastry brush with plant milk and wet the undersides of the edges where the strips overlap and press them gently to seal the joint.
For a shinier surface, brush the dough strips with plant milk that you’ve thickened with a little flour or tapioca.
Bake on the middle oven rack for 15 minutes and begin checking for doneness. The pie is ready when it is bubbly and the crust is golden.
Transfer to a cooling rack and wait 20 minutes for the filling to congeal to facilitate slicing. Serve warm.