Kale, broccoli & feta pie on a chick-pea base

Kale, eggs and chick-peas are the main ingredients of this pie, making it a more nutritionally balanced addition to your plate than your average pie.

I used to save my pie making for special occasions, but they are actually quite fast to make, and by using a chick-pea flour base, it is not only gluten-free, but also higher in protein than a regular flour base, so it's also a good one for a weekend dinner, served with a large salad. This pie is always part of the spread for Christmas, Easter, Midsommar and is normally what I choose to take along to a friend's place when taking a plate to share. I thought it was about time I shared my latest version of the recipe which includes the chickpea flour base.

Ingredients:

Base:

• 3dl chick-pea flour (or other gluten-free flour if you prefer)

• 1 tsp turmeric (purely for nutritional benefits & colour)

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• ~1dl yogurt (any type)

• 1/2 tbsp coconut oil for greasing.

Filling

• 125g organic kale, finely chopped

• 1/2 broccoli, finely chopped

• 2-4 medium red onions (4 for covering whole pie, 2 if you wish to make it half & half)

• 150g feta (1 block), or equivalent Västerbotten cheese

• 7 eggs

• ~150dl yoghurt (cow/soy/oat as you prefer. I have used all)

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• ~1.5dl water

• 1 handfull walnuts (optional)

Note: Red onion is an excellent addition to the pie, but if you have family members or guests who do not like or cannot eat onion, then you can do half your pie with and half your pie without, as I do.

Method:

To make the base:

1. Preheat oven to 150deg C.

2. Grease your pie form with coconut oil.

3. Combine the chickpea flour, olive oil and yoghurt in a small bowl and mix to combine. I recommend adding yoghurt bit by bit until you achieve enough moisture for a doe consistency (approx 1dl).

4. Then roll into a doe ball, press out into your pie dish to cover the base and most of the edges. An alternative method is to add less yoghurt and make a 'crumby'base. Scatter the doe crumbs over the base and press out to fill the gaps. This is also quite quick. I could never be bothered with the mess of a rolling pin.

5. Bake the base for 10-15 min until slightly golden and then remove from the oven.

To make the filling:

• Finely chop the onion and gently sauté in olive oil until almost translucent.

• Add the chopped kale, and broccoli, stir around and cover with a lid for 2min or so, until the kale is wilting. You may need to do this in two batches if your fry pan is too small.

• If making a 'half-and-half' pie, Sauté your two onions first, then add a bit less than half the kale and half the broccoli, and cover as above. Put that aside and then gently steam your kale and broccoli with a small amount of olive oil with lid on for 2mins.

• Transfer your kale filling to the pie dish.

• Chop your feta and crumble over the pie, genly mixing it into the kale mix with your fingers.

• Decorate with a few walnuts if you like (I pre-soak a handful of walnuts whilst making the pie)

• Whisk your eggs, olive oil, yogurt and water in a small bowl (I re-use the bowl used for the doe mix).

• Pour over the pie. Press down gently with a spoon to help the liquid seep in, and to avoid dry pieces of kale on top that may burn.

• Bake at 160deg for ~45min (or 170deg for ~35min). You may need longer, depending on your oven. It should be ready when looking slightly golden on top.

• Serve and enjoy!

You can use this base for any other savoury pie recipe you would like to invent or use it instead of a regular flour base in any other recipe.