October 27, 2024

Squash, Cauliflower, and Potato Corpse Face Pie

It’s Halloween night, and you’re looking for something hearty and filling before the ensuing sugar-fest- look no further than this corpse face pie! With a creepy, shriveled face that looks like it belongs 6-feet under, this spooktacular creation is actually made of a delicious, flaky pie crust. The filling is a hearty mix of squash, potatoes and cauliflowers, flavored with Indian spices like garam masala, ginger, and cumin. Serve it up, and get ready to jockey for the nose-piece!

Skip the Post, Jump to the Recipe!

PS- this doesn’t have to be a Halloween recipe. It is a delicious savory pie no matter the season. You can make it with a plain pie crust for a great everyday meal. But if you’re fun and enjoy causing concern to your friends and family you can make it corpse face and all for any random Tuesday.

Vegan Savory Pies

Savory pies are something I enjoy every time I make one. You can fill them with vegetables, curries, grains, mushrooms, tofu, seitan and more. And then all that’s left to do is to envelop the entire dish in a buttery, flaky, pie crust. It takes a supper from good to amazing. It’s an elegant and delicious way to elevate an ingredient or dish into a meal. Plus, it gives you a well-deserved chance to eat more pastry without eating more sugar. This particular pie filling was loosely inspired by the Indian street food dish, pav bhaji. The traditional dish is made with smashed and spiced vegetables, and served on buttery rolls and it seemed like it was perfectly suited to be transformed into pie. I hope you enjoy!

Looking for Savory Pies? Try one of these!

Looking for Halloween Recipes? Try one of these!

Got Tators? Try one of these Vegan Potato Recipes!

Vegan Corpse Face Pie Tips and Tricks

I used my go-to pie crust technique here. It is a little unusual- it’s made in a food processor and is less fussy and more foolproof than most crust recipes. It’s perfectly flaky, without having large chunks of vegan butter in your dough that can make rolling the crust challenging. Instead of adding all the flour and butter and pulsing, always making sure not to overmix, you combine the vegan butter with just some of the flour, and mix it well. All that flour is coated with butter, which prevents water from activating the gluten bonds. Then you add the remaining flour, along with some water. The gluten in the second, smaller amount of flour is activated, which holds the dough together. The first batch of flour that got covered in butter remains flaky and crumbly, giving you the perfect crust every time.
All that being said, feel free to use your own go-to pie crust recipe or go with a pre-made crust.
I used potatoes, squash, and cauliflower for my filling, but you can absolutely play with that if you like. Choose hearty vegetables that will smash nicely when cooked and try to make a similar amount to the 2 1/2 lbs we used. Pretty much any root vegetable will be great here, like beets, turnips, carrots, parsnips, rutabaga, kohlrabi, and sweet potatoes. Other great vegetables include broccoli, brussels sprouts, eggplant, zucchini, and beans.
Corpse face decorating is a bit of an art. It doesn’t need to be perfect, because the imperfections almost make it feel like nature has been at work on your corpse face. Consider if you want a face that looks more newly deceased, or one that is shriveled, waterlogged, slipping, or decomposing. If reading that last sentence was disturbing to you, a jack-o-lantern face is also a lovely option.
I tried a technique on this crust where I used very dilute red food coloring in water to make shadows on the crust. In the end it looked messy (I was in a real rush at this point), but if you’re in a calmer headspace I think there is real potential there.
Pies gain more structural integrity if they’re allowed to cool down after baking. I found this pie to be delicious both warm and cold, so this can be a great make-ahead option.

Squash and Potato Corpse Face Pie

Ingredients

For the Crust:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup plant-based butter
1/2 tsp. salt

For the Filling:

1 1/2 lb. russet potatoes (3 medium-sized potatoes
1 lb. peeled squash (about 1/2 smaller butternut squash)
1/2 lb. cauliflower (1/2 a small head)
1/4 cup plant-based butter
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. brown mustard seeds
1 medium-sized onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, minced
1 tsp. grated ginger
2 tsp. garam masala
1/2 tsp. dried turmeric
Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Make the crust. This can be made a couple hours to a couple days in advance. Combine 1 1/2 cups of flour, the salt, and the plant-based butter in a food processor, and process into a smooth paste. Add the remaining flour, and 2 tablespoons of cold water. Pulse. Add more cold water as needed. The dough is ready when you are able to take a small handful, push together, and it sticks. Divide the dough into two even pieces, shape them into round discs, cover in plastic wrap, and place in the fridge for at least an hour.
Next make the filling. Peel and chop the potatoes into rough cubes. Peel, remove the seeds, and chop the squash into cubes. Remove the cauliflowers leaves and cut into pieces. Place the three vegetables into a saucepan and cover with 2 cups of water. Cover, and simmer for around 30 minutes or until all the vegetables smash easily. Remove from the heat, drain most of the liquid, and use a potato masher to mash. I like to leave some slightly larger chunks of vegetable for the textural variation, but you choose how smooth or chunky you like.
In a small skillet, heat the 1/4 cup of butter for the filling. Add the cumin and mustard seeds, and fry until they start to pop. Add the onions next, sauteing until translucent. Add the jalapeño, garlic and ginger. Sauté until fragrant, and then add the garam masala and the turmeric. Mix the butter and spices in with the mashed vegetables, season with salt and pepper to taste, and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 400F (200C). Remove one of the pie crusts from the oven. Place between two pieces of wax paper and roll into a 12-inch disk by starting in the middle and rolling towards the edge before rotating the crust and repeating. Transfer the crust to the center of a 9-inch pie dish. Push down the bottom and edges gently. Place in the freezer until you've finished the top crust.
Roll out the top crust into a circle a little larger than 9 inches. Lift the pie crust off the wax paper and put it back down- you want to be extra sure you don't have any sticking before starting on the face. Cut and shape the face. I used a knife to cut out the eyes, and added bits of extra dough to make the eyelids. The nose was added dough with nostrils added with a chopstick. Finally I cut a gash for the mouth and opened it up, adding some teeth inside.
Take the bottom pie crust out of the freezer and fill with the filling, packing it down lightly until even and flat. Transfer the top pie crust on top of the filling, cut of the excess, and use a fork to crimp the edges closed.
Place in the preheated oven, and bake for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes reduce the heat in the oven to 350F (175C) and bake for another 40 minutes, or until the top crust has a golden-brown color.

https://veryveganval.com/2024/10/27/squash-cauliflower-and-potato-corpse-face-pie/

Like our Work? Great vegan recipes cost money to make! Help us buy cashews, kale, tofu, and other important things.