Chermoula Squash Pies

I made these with extra pastry from yesterday's Cinder Banoffee Pie. It only had a little bit of sugar in it so I figured it would be fine for something savoury, and I thought the mixed spice would go well with something Middle Eastern. I've also just discovered harissa paste and smoked paprika, both of which are ambrosically delicious, and would never turn down an opportunity to use both of once; so, I decided to adapt this Daily Telegraph* recipe for chermoula squash as a pie filling. No pictures, because I didn't have the skill inclination to fold them into nice neat pie shapes, so they just looked like brown blobs. There was, however, much more to them than met the eye; inside they were sweet, spicy, golden and delicious.

For the pastry
- 100g wholemeal flour
- 100g plain flour
- 1tbsp brown sugar
- 2tsp mixed spice
- pinch salt
- 100g softened butter or margarine
- 75ml water
For the filling
- ½ a medium butternut squash
- 1 medium carrot
- 50g green beans
- 30g raisins
- 1 large tomato
- 2cm piece of fresh ginger
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1tbsp finely chopped coriander
- 2tsp smoked paprika
- 1tsp cumin
- ½tsp turmeric
- 2tsp harissa paste
- 1sp black pepper
- 1tbsp olive oil
- 1tbsp lemon juice
- 20ml water

For the pastry
- sieve both flours, the salt and the mixed spice into a mixing bowl.
- add the sugar and butter or margarine and mix gently, either by hand or with a dough hook, while gradually adding water until everything comes together; it should be soft but not sticky.
- wrap the pastry in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.
- take the pastry out of the fridge and roll it out to about 5mm thick, then cut into four equally sized pieces.
For the filling
- peel the squash and carrot and cut them into 1-2cm dice. Put them in a large saucepan with the raisins and a splash of water, over a medium to high heat, and cover the pan.
- chop the beans and add them to the squash and carrot after about five minutes.
- while they cook, crush the ginger and garlic and whisk them together with all remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Finely chop the tomato. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- when the squash and carrot are soft but still solid, after 10-15 minutes’ cooking, uncover the pan and continue cooking until any remaining water has evaporated.
- mix the vegetables with the chermoula paste and tomato in a large bowl and divide the mixture between the four squares of pastry. Fold the pastry over the filling and press the edges securely together.
- place the pies on a baking tray and bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden and crispy.

*Please don't think I'm a Conservative! I'm a card-carrying Guardian-reading leftie, but I use a lot of Telegraph recipes. This is because I believe it's a good idea to challenge my political beliefs by reading right- as well as left-wing news sources, but in practice I find all the right-wing news and comment articles too soul-destroying to read much of, so I mostly just read the food section. But it still counts.