Spain does not celebrate the English tradition of Bonfire night in November, but they do have 1st November as All Saints’ Day or Day of the Dead. On this day all the family get together and celebrate any member who has passed on. Often they take food to the cemeteries and spend the day there, but it made me think about what do they take? It turns out a lot of pies or pastries, so I decide to make this the theme for my recipes this month. Below are some English and some Spanish, but basically once you have made the pastry, you really can put anything in it. I have started off the recipes with my easy basic Pastry recipe.

Buen Apetito

Pastry
1¼ cups of plain or wholemeal flour
Pinch of salt
4 oz butter
Cold water to mix
Red Cheese Quiche
4 eggs
275 ml milk
30ml tomato puree
30ml Worcestershire sauce
30ml chopped parsley
30ml chopped chives
125g grated red cheese

Make pastry by mixing ingredients and chill. Beat eggs with the milk, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and herbs. Mix in the cheese. Roll out pastry and line quiche dish. Pour in the egg mixture and bake for 40 minutes on 200º C

Meat and Vegetable Pie
250g pastry
1 egg
2 cloves garlic
1 onion
60g butter
2tbsp plain flour
284 ml water
1 x beef stock
350g leftover cooked meat or fresh minced meat
Seasoning

Preheat the oven to 200º C. Melt the butter in a saucepan and gently fry the chopped onion and crushed garlic. Add the meat (if using fresh minced meat, cook until brown) and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add seasoning and flour and stir until all flour absorbed. Add the water and beef stock and stir until smooth then add any cooked vegetables and stir in. Remove from heat. Roll out the pastry and place in dish, add mixture and cover with pastry lid and coat with egg. Cook in oven for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Apple and Raisin Parcels
450g cooking apples
2 tbsp lemon juice
50g sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
50g raisin
2 x pastry from recipe.

Peel, core and chop the apples and toss in the lemon juice to prevent discolouring. Place 2 tbsp of cold water, sugar and spices into a pan. Stir in apples and cook gently for 5 minutes. Stir in raisins and allow to cool. Roll out pastry and cut into squares. Place a spoonful of the apple mixture in the centre of the square and bring the corners up to the middle and pinch together. Cook in oven 200º for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Pumpkin Pie
450g fresh pumpkin
2 eggs
225ml evaporated milk
225g caster sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground nutmeg
50g raisins
Pastry case (short crust pastry is best, but any of your choice).

Peel the pumpkin and chop into cubes. Place between 2 deep plates over a pan of boiling water. Steam for 15-20 minutes until soft, then mash to a puree and allow to cool. Separate the eggs and whisk the egg whites until forming peaks. In another bowl lightly whip the egg yolks with the pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, sugar and spices until smooth. Stir in raisins and fold in egg whites until smooth. Spoon the mixture in a pastry case and bake for 50 minutes in oven 190º Gas 5.

Vegetable Pie
1lb diced potatoes
1lb cauliflower
1lb diced carrots
1lb diced swede
3 spring onions
1tsp vegetable extract
1tsp oatmeal

Cook everything together with just enough water to cover, stirring often to prevent it sticking to the pan. Let the mixture cool. Spoon into a pie dish and cover with a crust of pastry. Bake in a moderate oven.