April has been rather lovely so far. One day, we heated up our grill for the first time this year to make ourselves a nice smoky outdoor dinner. We were so stuffed afterwards, that we had to take a long walk. The Spring nature keeps invading our forest cabin. Every morning at sunrise, bees entered our house and made a load of noise. The flowers aren't in full bloom yet, so the poor ones are craving something sweet. Since I need my good night sleep, I decided to experiment with sugar. I left some of it outside and it worked! I only heard the bees coming and going and not pushing into our house. Maybe I imagine it, but the sugar stopped the invasion.
But enough about bees, let's talk about extreme metal. We had a really nice show with Neoandertals at Tallinn Music Week. Thanks to Anton, who came all the way from Moscow, our almost full show is now available as a high-quality video. I strongly recommend to watch it with speakers that have bass, since we only have bass and drums in our band. So if you have ever wondered what I do behind the drums, now is your chance. By the way, at the end of the video, there's a real death metal party going on!
From extreme metal to vegan baking! Back to this amazing pie. It's actually a wonderfully universal recipe for a gluten-free vegan pie. If you are not into doughs that you have to roll (like me!), then this pie is made for you. Just mix the ingredients, pour the batter into a cake pan and bake! No rolling needed. I used raw buckwheat flour, since it's my favorite flour when I'm baking without gluten. It acts almost identical to wheat flour and has a pretty neutral, rather nutty taste. If you can't find ready made flour, you can grind it yourself using raw buckwheat groats.
What's even better, there can be different variations for the topping. If you are not into peas, replace them with zucchini and tomatoes for example. There's definitely some room for improvisation. But this green pea and onion topping is amazing, too! The whole pie reminds me of a quiche, but it's so much easier to make. Perfect for a picnic, too!
PS! If you don't have a powerful blender, soak the sunflower seeds for a couple of hours or boil them for 15 minutes before blending. This only goes for the sunflower cream, not for the seeds used in a dough.
Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 9 ½ inches / 24 cm round cake pan, 12 - 16 slices
Gluten-free pie dough:
- 1 ¼ cup / 150 raw buckwheat flour (I'm pretty sure oat flour would work here too)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 heaping Tbsp potato starch
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 Tbsp sunflower seeds
- 5 Tbsp oil
- ¾ cup / 150 ml water or plant milk
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
Sunflower seed cream:
- ½ cup / 75 g sunflower seeds
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ cup / 180 ml water
- 1 Tbsp potato starch
Green pea and onion topping:
- 3 - 4 Tbsp oil
- 3 large onions
- 1 ½ cup / 200 g frozen or fresh green peas
- 3 large garlic cloves
- 1 tsp salt
Pre-heat the oven to 350 F / 180 C. Grease a round baking pan. Whisk raw buckwheat flour with baking powder, salt and sunflower seeds. In another bowl, whisk oil with water and vinegar. To make the sunflower cream, blend all the ingredients together, until you have a smooth cream. Heat up a pan and pour some oil in it. Add chopped onions. Cook for a few minutes, until the onions are a bit darker golden brown. Add peas, chopped garlic and salt. Cook for a couple of minutes. Mix in the sunflower cream, cook for half a minute and remove the heat.
When the oven has reached its temperature, mix the dry ingredients with wet ingredients to make the dough. If it is too thick and hard to mix, add a couple of tablespoons of water. Pour the dough into the greased baking pan. Spread the creamy pea and onion topping onto the dough. Bake the pie for 25 minutes, until the edges are crispy and golden brown and the bottom of the pie is cooked. Let it cool for a bit before cutting. Serve with fresh dill, if you like.
