Cheese and vegetable pasty hamantaschen!

A delicious vegetarian pasty transformed into a savoury Purim delicacy! Filled with vegetables and cheese, these tasty treats are fit for a festive feast.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had hamantaschen on the brain for a while now. These triangular filled pastries, traditionally eaten on Purim, are just so versatile! It seems not a day goes by without another brilliant idea for a filling, or a new kind of crust, or both. It’s a food that’s just begging to be played with.

Savoury morsels

Last year for the first time I came across savoury hamantaschen. I was actually a bit annoyed with myself for not having thought of it before! Why should the desserts get all the glory? I vowed to make savoury as well as sweet hamantaschen in future. And here they are!

Vegetarian pasty hamantaschen

I crossed the traditional British pasty with the three-cornered hamantaschen pastry, and created these fabulous, savoury, vegetarian pasty hamantaschen!

Traditional British pasties

These savoury hamantaschen are a variation on the traditional British pasty – an easy short pastry case filled with vegetables, meat or other savoury fillings, and crimped to seal before baking.

Historically, pasties have been associated with Cornwall, where hungry miners would take them underground as a convenient packed lunch. The story goes that the pasty’s crimped pastry join formed a disposable handle which could be discarded along with any dirt from the eater’s hands.

The classic Cornish Pasty now has PDO status, and also contains meat, so I’m being very careful to avoid making any claims of authenticity regarding my pasty-hamantaschen!

Vegetarian pasty – large or small?

What I will say about these vegetarian pasties is that they are delicious! They would be a great addition to your Purim seudah – something satisfyingly savoury before all the sweets.

I made four big ones – each vegetarian pasty was more or less main course size. However you could easily make lots of little ones instead. A platter of little vegetarian pasty hamantaschen would be great on a buffet, or you could serve them canapé style, or pop them into your mishloach manot boxes.

Vegetarian pasty hamantaschen – ingredients

The short pastry that makes the crust of these savoury hamantaschen uses just flour, butter (or margarine) and cold water.

The tasty vegetarian filling consists of:

• onion
• carrot
• parsnip
• potato
• cheese
• olive oil
• herbs
• salt and pepper

Once assembled, you simply glaze the pasties with egg and sprinkle them with seeds.

Poppy seeds

I sprinkled the pasties with poppy seeds in a nod to the traditional hamantaschen filling. However you could substitute any kinds of seeds or toppings, or leave them off altogether. The egg wash gives these pasties a lovely glossy golden finish on its own.

This made four large vegetarian pasty-hamantaschen, but I estimate it would make 8-12 small ones.

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Vegetarian pasty hamantaschen with cheese & vegetable filling

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A delicious vegetarian pasty transformed into a Purim delicacy! Filled with veggies & cheese, these tasty treats are fit for a festive feast.

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Prep Time 40 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Total Time 1 hr 10 mins

Course Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine British, Jewish

Servings 4

Calories 644 kcal

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x

For the pastry

• 200 g plain flour
• 100 g margarine or butter
• 100 ml cold water (or thereabouts)

For the filling

• 1 medium onion
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 carrots
• 2 parsnips
• 1 medium potato
• 1 tsp mixed herbs
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• Pinch salt
• 70 g grated cheese

To finish

• 1 egg beaten
• 1 tbsp poppy seeds

Instructions

 

• Rub the flour into the margarine/butter (or whizz in a food processor) to give fine crumbs. Add just enough cold water to bring the crumbs together into a soft dough - you may not need all the water.
• Shape the dough into a disc about 2cm (1 inch) thick, wrap in clingfilm, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling

• Peel the onion and dice finely. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over a medium heat, and saute the onion for a few minutes until soft.
• Meanwhile, peel the carrots, parsnips and potato and cut into 1cm (½ inch) chunks.
• Add the vegetables to the pan with the onion, and mix well. Season with the herbs, pepper and salt, and cook, stirring occasionally for 15-20 minutes until everything is nice and soft. (If the mixture seems a little dry, or is sticking, add a spoonful or two of water just to lubricate.)

To assemble and cook

• Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
• Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to a thickness of 4-5mm (approx. ⅕ inch). Use a 12cm (4¾ inch) diameter round cutter to cut out 4 circles of pastry. You may need to re-roll to get four circles.
• Place a quarter of the vegetable mixture in the centre of each circle, topped with a quarter of the grated cheese. Leave a gap of 1-1.5cm (½-⅔ inch) around the edge.
• Brush around the edges of the pastry circles with the beaten egg, then fold the sides up into a triangle and crimp the seams together. Transfer the pasty hamantaschen to a non-stick baking sheet.
• Brush the outside of the pastry with more egg, and sprinkle with poppy seeds.
• Bake the hamantaschen at 190°C (375°F) for around 30 minutes until cooked and golden. Serve at once while piping hot.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Vegetarian pasty hamantaschen with cheese & vegetable filling

Amount per Serving

Calories

644

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

36

g

55

%

Saturated Fat

 

18

g

113

%

Trans Fat

 

1

g

Cholesterol

 

113

mg

38

%

Sodium

 

338

mg

15

%

Potassium

 

764

mg

22

%

Carbohydrates

 

68

g

23

%

Fiber

 

8

g

33

%

Sugar

 

7

g

8

%

Protein

 

14

g

28

%

Vitamin A

 

5960

IU

119

%

Vitamin C

 

28

mg

34

%

Calcium

 

230

mg

23

%

Iron

 

4

mg

22

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword carrot, cheese, onions, parsnip, pastry, potato

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More delicious Purim recipes

If you’re curious to know more about Purim, then check out some more of my Purim recipes which give extra details about this fun and festive holiday. Some of my favourites include these delicious and easy brown sugar hamantaschen, these fun pizza hamantaschen, and these traditional yeasted poppy seed hamantaschen.

Or you can browse all of my Purim recipes here.