Brie, cranberry and red onion pithivier

5.00

This festive vegetarian pithivier recipe is the perfect thing to make if there's a vegetarian coming round for Christmas dinner (or just a Sunday dinner in the winter months). Oozing brie, sweet cranberries and sticky red onions create a wonderful filling for the crisp, flaky pastry. Make a jug of our vegan gravy to go alongside it.

First published in 2019

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

  • 1 tbsp of vegetable oil
  • 125g of red onion, sliced
  • 1/2 cinnamon stick
  • 1 star anise
  • 4 cloves
  • 25g of red wine
  • 30g of red wine vinegar
  • 15g of sugar
  • 50g of cranberry jelly
  • 1 sheet of puff pastry
  • 80g of brie
  • 1 egg, beaten with a pinch of salt

Method

1
Heat the oil in a pan and gently sweat the onions for a few minutes. Once soft, add the cinnamon, cloves, star anise, wine, vinegar and sugar and leave to simmer until the liquid has reduced down into a syrup. Stir in the cranberry jelly and leave to cool
2
Meanwhile, cut two circles out of your pastry, one 15cm and the other 17cm in diameter. Place the 15cm circle on a sheet of baking paper
3
Once the onion mixture has completely cooled down, spread it in the centre of the smaller circle, leaving a 2cm border around the edge
4
Slice the brie and arrange on top of the onions in an even layer (or two layers)
5
Brush the border with a little egg wash, then place the large circle of pastry over the top and press down the edges to seal, ensuring there aren't any air bubbles. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes (still on its baking paper, to make it easier to move) to firm up the pastry
6
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6 and place a baking tray in the oven to heat up
7
Crimp the edges of the pithivier using a fork, then use the 15cm cutter to neaten up the edges again. Brush the pithivier with the remaining beaten egg. If the pastry has warmed up, place back in the fridge to chill
8
Transfer the chilled pithivier (on its baking paper) to the hot preheated tray and bake for 30–40 minutes. If the colour starts to get a little dark, turn the oven down to 170°C/gas mark 3 for the remaining cooking time. If the bottom is still a little undercooked after the full time, you can carefully flip it over and bake for a further 10 minutes
9
Serve hot as part of a roast dinner with vegetarian or vegan gravy
First published in 2019

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