--- See Mary Berg baking delicious pie recipes in the 23 October episode of Mary Makes It Easy, which screens at 6pm Sundays on SBS Food, with episodes available for a limited time after they air. ---
Try your hand at making filo with Matthew Evans, make vegan pastry with Mary Berg, put a three-layer spin on shepherd's pie, or turn ma'amoul into a rustic dessert: these recipes show how much fun (and delicious variety!) there is in pie land.
Line up this rustic pie from Matthew Evans for your next picnic! "I used to make filo by stretching it out thinly like strudel dough until I read Wild Weed Pie by famed Greek expat and one-time Sydney chef Janni Kyritsis. I’ve used his method for this, which is slightly sturdier, and perfect for taking on a picnic. If you can’t get hold of nettles, substitute silverbeet or a mix of greens," he says.
Nettle filo pie Source: Alan Benson
This delicious recipe, from the book Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Extra Good Things by Yotam Ottolenghi and Noor Murad, is a glorious mashup, with layers of crumbed eggplant, tomato sauce, mozzarella and kataifi pastry.
Parmigiana pie with tomato sauce Source: Elena Heatherwick
"This vegan samosa galette, it is so tasty," says Mary Berg when SBS chats to her about this recipe from her latest series, Mary Makes It Easy. "It did take a little bit of work to get that vegan pastry right. But by using coconut oil, spreading it out thin and freezing it in the freezer, you're going to end up with those nice little chunks of fat that are going to evaporate just like butter does in the pastry in the oven. You end up with delicious flakiness, flavoured with some turmeric. Oh my gosh. Then that potato pea filling! And if you want to make it vegetarian but not vegan, try mixing some paneer into it." And you can swing this to a dessert pie too: "This vegan pastry, if you leave out the turmeric and you just go a classic kind of flour, salt, maybe a bit of sugar, coconut oil mixture, it would make the perfect galette or vegan pie dough for any sort of sweet pie ... like a classic apple galette."
Vegan samosa galette Source: Mary Makes It Easy
This 'pie' is more like a lasagne in construction with layers of corn tortillas, salsa, chicken and onion mixture and a topping of corn, cream cheese, sour cream and Oaxaca cheese (mozzarella will also work).
Aztec pie Source: Alan Benson
Instead of brushing the filo sheets with butter, this recipe uses yoghurt, which adds another layer of flavour to these spiced lamb parcels.
Lamb borek with cucumber, radish and parsley salad Source: Benito Martin
This three-layer version of an old favourite, from Lyndey Milan, is made with lamb, caramelised onion and a mixed-vegetable mash.
Three-layer shepherd’s pie Source: Lyndey Milan's Baking Secrets
This recipe, from Huda AlSultan, combines the sweetness of dates with a rustic oat pastry, in a pie-sized dessert twist on the classic ma'amoul.
Date ma'amoul pie Source: Emily John
