What’s not to love about hand pies? Especially when they are stuffed with a delicious filling of cabbage and potato and smoky tempeh. And encased in a crispy, flaky, whole wheat crust?
I love hand pies, as you may have noticed from the number I’ve posted on this blog — from savory baked samosas with chickpea filling to chickpea mushroom turnovers to my naan-calzones and pita packets. Part of the reason hand pies are so popular around here is because I have fast discovered that it’s easy to feed a kid something — almost anything — when you encase it in an attractive cover, or in this case, a crust.
Not that Jay doesn’t like cabbage or potatoes– he loves both. And the crust is so flaky and tender that he doesn’t mind– doesn’t care– that all of it is actually good for him.
I usually share a vegan Irish recipe or two for St. Patrick’s Day, and these Irish Hand Pies just screamed out “make me, I’m special!” So I did. Hope you do the same!
**
Looking for more vegan Irish recipes?
Vegan Irish Lamb Stew
Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread
Irish Shepherd’s Pie
Vegan Sausage Rolls
Vegan Cabbage Leek and Potato Tart
Vegan Colcannon (with Sauerkraut)
***
Vegan Irish Hand Pies Recipe
Vegan Irish Hand Pies
Ingredients
- For the crust:
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup coconut oil solid but scoopable
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Ice cold water
- For the filling:
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 cups shredded green cabbage
- 2 in medium red or yellow potatoes cut a 1/4-inch dice
- 1 6- oz package of smoky tempeh finely chopped (you can skip this and use beans or chickpeas or even crumbled tofu)
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme cut down to 1 tsp if using dry
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a bowl, whisk the flours with salt. Cut in the coconut oil using a fork or a pastry cutter.
- Drizzle the ice-cold water into the flour, a little at a time, while mixing with a fork, until the dough comes together.
- Pat the dough into a disc, wrap tightly with cling wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. You can make the dough a day or two in advance and refrigerate.
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan.
- Add the garlic, saute for a minute, then add the potatoes followed by the cabbage.
- Cook the mixture for about 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently, until he cabbage has wilted and starts to change color.
- Add the thyme, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar and tamari. Stir well to mix.
- Add 3/4 cup of water and give it all a good stir. Cover the saucepan and cook about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked and really tender.
- Add the smoked tempeh and stir well to mix. Make sure all of the water in the mixture has evaporated.
- Roll out the dough to about 1/8th of an inch thickness. Using a three-inch cookie cutter, or a bowl, cut rounds from the dough. Roll up remaining scraps, roll out, and cut more rounds. You should have 20 when you're done.
- Place about 2 heaping tablespoons of filling in the center of a round. Place a second round on top and pinch the edges together. You can crimp with a fork for a pretty look.
- Repeat for remaining nine pies. Place all the pies on a foil-lined baking sheet.
- Bake the hand pies in the lowest rack of the oven for 15 minutes or until lightly golden.
- Remove, cool slightly on a rack, serve.
I made these last night for my book club – none of whom are vegans – and they were a big hit. Very tasty! I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 because the filling quantity is so far off. I interpreted “2 in medium” potatoes to mean “2 medium,” and I used Yukon Gold potatoes. Like Amanda, I ended up with WAY too much filling — more than twice what I could use. I also found a 3″ round wasn’t big enough to hold 2 heaping Tbsps. of filling, so I made the rounds a little bigger; even then, I could only fit about 1 heaping Tbsp on each round. I heaped the filling into a high mound so as not to touch the edges, and rolled the top round a little bigger so that it would fit over the mound and allow me to crimp the edges closed with a fork. The crimping also added to the visual appeal of the pies. Finally, though the written directions don’t mention it, I cut a cross-slash into the top of the pie before baking, as shown in the photo. I would definitely make these again, and will also enjoy experimenting with different fillings, both savory and sweet, to use with the very tasty crust.
I made the hand pies tonight. There was no quantity listed for the potatoes so I diced 1 lb. (which is 4 servings, the cabbage was 4 servings so that is why I picked that serving size) I had way, way too much filling left over, easily more than half. I will probably freeze the filling and make them again or using the filling for something else. The hand pies are in the over right now so I am not sure how they will turn out. Thanks for the idea!
Yum, these look perfect for St. Patty’s Day! I’m always down to eat something encased in bread or crust :).
I know what I’m making this weekend! Yum.
Hope you try! 🙂