Silver beet (swiss chard) is not something that I eat very often. In fact, when I bought a bunch of silver beet to make this Hunza pie, it was the first time I’ve purchased it. We didn’t eat silver beet much when I was younger – my mum had a friend who would give her bunches from her garden, but apart from that we weren’t exposed to it. I don't recall how my mum cooked it, but I don't remember it being very tasty.
I have to admit, I had grave misgivings about this recipe. The filling is basically just silver beet, brown rice, cheese and one egg. And... no onion and garlic! (Perhaps that's a sign that I use onion and garlic too much when I'm surprised by a recipe that doesn't contain those ingredients.) I had been cooking on autopilot and by the time I thought about what was in it, the pie was already in the oven. As it was cooking, the Boys could hear me muttering, "I don't know about this. This is going to be awful."
But you know what? I was wrong! I was so wrong! The pastry is made from wholemeal flour, and the nuttiness of the crust paired nicely with the filling. The edges of the pastry even crisped up nicely. I had been concerned that the filling would be bland, but fortunately it wasn't. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised, and we all went back for seconds (and maybe thirds...).
Check out cuisine.com.au for the recipe.
(Well, well. A bit of google time and the internets tells me that a Hunza pie is a rather classic '60s, hippie, vegetarian dish. I can see why it was a staple - it's good!)
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