Pepper, aubergine & feta pithivier

This is a more Mediterranean take on pie – a delicate puff pastry pithivier filled with peppers, aubergines and feta. It doesn’t need a hefty potato mash, but sweet potato and olive oil mash suits it very well indeed.

Makes 2

6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 2 red onions, peeled and sliced 4 sweet peppers, sliced 1 aubergine, diced 50g feta cheese, crumbled 1 sheet all-butter puff pastry 1 egg, lightly beaten

1 Gently heat half the olive oil in a pan and add the onions and peppers. Season and cook gently for at least 30 mins, stirring as you go, until the peppers are collapsed and slippery.

2 In the meantime, heat the rest of the oil gently in another pan, tip in the aubergine, and season; then cook until it is soft and has lost all ‘bounce’. Remove both pans from the heat until you are ready to fill your pithiviers.

3 Preheat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/ Gas 6. Flour your work surface and roll out the pastry until it is around half the thickness of a £1 coin. Cut out two circles, around 15cm across, and two more, around 17cm across.

4 Lay baking parchment onto a baking tray and then place the smaller circles on it. Divide the pepper and onion mixture between them, placing it centrally, and then do the same with the aubergine. Sprinkle feta on top.

5 Paint egg around the exposed edge of the pastry, then drape the larger circle of pastry over the mound and trim any excess. Paint egg all over the mound, then use a sharp knife to make a pattern on top. A small hole at the top will help steam to escape.

6 Bake for 35–45 mins, or until the pastry is crisp and browned. Serve hot or at room temperature.