When I was little, I loved the Little House on the Prairie book that was about Almanzo Wilder’s childhood in upstate New York. In one scene, he gets all excited because his mom makes him his favorite dish – apples and onions. As a child, I thought this was a very odd combination, because apples were sweet. Well, it turns out that little Almanzo was a culinary genius, because apples are lovely in a lot of savory environments. In these little pastry parcels, carrots and apples, roasted with shallots and garlic, show off their sweetness to tart goat cheese and sharp cheddar, and all the tastes are enhanced by the lovely combination of golden raisins and rosemary. A surprising mix-up, perhaps, but really delicious. I made these quite small, because the filling is soft and it contrasts nicely with the crispy crust. Have 2 or 3 with soup or a salad for dinner, or take them to a party as a fancy appetizer.
Here’s Neutral Milk Hotel’s King of Carrot Flowers. Might not actually be about carrots, but such a good song.
1 batch paté brisée, with 1 t. rosemary crumbled in with the flour before you add the butter.
3 cups carrots, cut into 1/3 inch dice
3 small apples, peeled and cut into 1/3 inch dice
1 large shallot, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, skins left on but pierced
Olive oil
1/3 cup golden raisins, finely chopped
1/2 cup goat’s cheese, crumbled
1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar
1. put the apples and carrots on a baking sheet with the shallot and garlic. Put enough olive oil on to coat everything lightly. Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes, till the carrots and apples start to brown and caramelize a little bit.
carrots, apples, shallots
2. Put the apples and carrots into a large bowl. Add the raisins and the cheeses, then season with salt and plenty of pepper.
3. Roll the pastry out into a long rectanular-ish sheet. Cut it into squares about 4X4 inches.
(If you don’t like rolling & cutting, you can always pinch of ping pong-ball-sized pieces of dough and roll them into a circle. Works just as well.)
4. Pull the edges up and seal so that you make little bags, seal the “neck” and leave the ends on top a little loose, so they’ll get crispy.
5. Bake at 400 for about 20 – 25 minutes until they’re brown and crispy. You didn’t coat these with eggwash, so they won’t get golden like some of those other pastries. But they’ll taste really good!
Out of the Ordinary 
Hey Claire – I made these today.
They were fab – and I even managed the pastry with 1 year old clinging on to my leg… (I usually cheat and buy a pastry block)
We had them with paprika coated roast potatoes.. and Pip’xeo devoured them – Zane liked the crust but didn’t enjoy the filling. Strange, as carrots, cheese, raisins and apples are some of his favourite food.. I see in todays post you have oddities with a six year olds taste too – you win some, etc.
Ruth was suitably impressed with my multi-tasking and she loved the pies.
It had that interesting mix. I imagined it was going to end up almost pudding like, but it’s totally savoury…. I wonder if you were to honey roast the carrots, to give them a glaze, it would end up as a sweet pie!
anyway – cool recipe.
…..and the pastry was idiot proof.
Aw, thanks, Shane. For trying it and telling me about it. Made my day!! It’s funny, because Isaac always likes the crust and never likes the filling, and Malcolm always likes the filling and rarely likes the crust. It’s like they’ve adopted these roles. I’ve taken to making extra crust and turning it into crackers for Isaac. Maybe I’ll do a post on that!
Pastry is fun, isn’t it?!?! IF you don’t worry about making it perfect. It really reminds me of my boys playing with clay. It might look messy before you cook it, but it always looks good when it’s cooked! And then you eat it and it’s gone.
Thanks, Shane.
Just thinking…if you left out the shallots, garlic and cheddar, and, as you suggest, honey-roasted the carrots, it would be dessert-y.
I’m stuck in contract hell at the moment with work – so having trouble sorting stuff or answering anything anywhere..
But to clarify my typing out loud..
maybe go with honey-roast the carrots with the apples then add raisins and Mascarpone cheese to ooze out of the pie.. that’d be dessert-y!
I think it came into my mind because we make carrot cake a lot – but I’ve never tried a carrot sweet pie – I wonder if it would work?
I made a tofu cheesecake today – but I’m so struggling I haven’t even had time to sit and eat any – I also realised when feeding the kids this evening that it was the first food I had in the day.. I was mostly fuelled by cups of tea. Not good.
Aw, Shane, you didn’t need to take time out of your busy day to get back to me. Can I tell you how crazy I am? I woke up in the middle of the night in a panic thinking you’d tried to make this for dessert. Then I reread your response and saw that you’d eaten it with potatoes. I’m just an idiot, that’s all!!
Hope all is well with you, and it all evens out somehow.