Watermelon jerky or dehydrated watermelon is a great way to use and preserve your leftover or excess watermelon. Some watermelon can grow to over 25kg! That’s a whole lot of watermelon to eat before it goes to waste. This recipe makes a delicious, chewy, sweet treat and helps stop any precious watermelon from going to waste.
Marinated in fresh mint and lime juice, this watermelon jerky is packed full of delicious summer flavours!
Watermelon, like its name suggests, has high water content. By dehydrating and removing that water content, you are left with a high concentration of natural sugars. This Mojito watermelon jerky recipe helps balance some of that sweetness and adds a delicious and refreshing flavour. When making this recipe you can do some with the marinate and some plain to work out which you prefer.
Mojito Watermelon Jerky
Cook Time: 1 minute
Total Time: 1 minute
Naturally, sweet watermelon treats 🍉
Ingredients
1/2 Watermelon
1 Lime
1/2 cup fresh Mint
Instructions
Rinse and finely slice the mint.
Add the juice and zest of one Lime to a bowl and mix through the mint.
Remove the rind and any seeds from the watermelon and slice it into strips roughly 1cm thick. If the strips are too thin they will break apart and be hard to remove from the tray. Too thick and it will take a loooooong time to dehydrate, so I have found around 1cm is a happy medium.
Lay your watermelon strips in a large shallow dish and pour over the lime and mint marinate. Gently turn over to coat. I like to do a mix of some marinated and some plain. Cover your dish and refrigerate for 1-2 hours to allow the flavours to combine.
Place your watermelon onto your dehydrator trays, ensuring you have a drip tray at the bottom to catch excess juices. I have found it is best to use fruit leather trays or parchment paper otherwise the jerky gets stuck to the metal grids. Dehydrate at 60 degrees Celsius until dry (This will take anywhere from 18-24 hours). To speed up the process, turn your watermelon strips over a few times during the process.
They should not be sticky to touch. The thicker parts that aren't quite dry will be a darker red colour. You may need to remove the dried watermelon and let the thicker slices dehydrate a bit longer. This will take anywhere from 18-24 hours.
Allow to cool and add to a clean, dry, airtight container.
Enjoy! 🍉
Notes
Please note that the Watermelon reduces significantly in size once dehydrated and has concentrated, high levels of sugars. Enjoy 2-3 pieces per serve as a treat or natural confectionary.
Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is easy to grow in home gardens and provides large amounts of delicious fruit. Sweet and bursting with juice, watermelons provide us with a delicious and hydrating summer treat. Watermelons grow on a vine and can trail along the ground or can also be grown vertically with extra support for their heavy fruit. This makes them a great addition to any home garden.
Rich compost and composted manure soil. Create soil mounds.
LOCATION
Full sun 6-8+ hours per day.
CARE
Young plants need regular watering.Water at the base to prevent mildew on the leaves.
FERTILISE
Feed every 2-3 weeks with liquid seaweed fertiliser.
PESTS
Mildew in humid climates.Rodents may attack mature fruit.
HARVEST
Late Summer. Usually around 3 months after planting.
REPRODUCE
Save seeds from your best watermelons.
Why Grow Watermelon?
Watermelon is bursting full of sweet, delicious, and hydrating food. Nature’s way of providing us with refreshing and nutritious energy for the long, hot summer days. Although they do need plenty of water to grow abundant crops, watermelon can do well in hot, dry climates.
Here are some of the many reasons to grow Watermelon:
Low maintenance
Drought tolerant
Pest resistant
Creates diversity in the garden
Abundant, sweet, juicy fruit
Can be grown along the ground or vertically
Can be used for sweet or savoury dishes
Make your own garden treats
Hydration
Vitamin C & A
Antioxidants
Animal Feed
Popular Watermelon Varieties
‘Sugar Baby’– Abundant red flesh Heirloom variety. Compact fruit with matte green hard outer skin to prevent splitting. 10-week harvest. 4 Fruit per plant. 3kg per fruit.
‘Moon & Stars’ – Heirloom pinky-red flesh variety with yellow “stars” over the fruit and leaves and one large “moon” speck. Thich skin to prevent splitting. 14- week harvest. 3-4 fruit per plant. 25kg per fruit.
‘Crimson Sweet (War Paint)’ – Very popular with deep red flesh and white paint-like stripes on the skin. 12-week harvest. 10kg per fruit.
‘Candy Red (Charleston Grey) – Heirloom. Large oval fruits with deep red flesh. Light green skin. 15+ week harvest. 15kg fruit.
‘Bush Jubilee’ – Old variety with red flesh and green striped skin. High sugar content. Compact bushy vine, great for small space gardening. 14-week harvest. 5kg fruit.
‘Blacktail Mountain’ – Large round fruit with red flesh. Dark green skin. Extra Sweet. Great for colder climates. 15-week harvest. 4 fruit per plant. 5kg per fruit.
‘Sweet Siberian’ – Heirloom with a green outer skin and sweet orange flesh. Great for colder climates. 10-weeks harvest. 5 fruit per plant. 4kg per fruit.
‘Golden Midget’ – Skin turns yellow when ripe. Sweet red flesh. Prefers warmer climates. 14-week harvest. 7 fruit per plant. 2.5kg per fruit.
How to Grow Watermelon
Watermelon likes a full sun location, with approximately 6-8 hours of sunlight. Plant seeds when daily temperatures start to average 20-25 degrees Celsius per day (less for colder varieties). Watermelon does not like their roots being disturbed. So if possible planting them directly in the ground can be beneficial. Create 30cm high mounds of soil using rich compost and composted manure. Plant your seeds 1 inch deep on the top or plant your seedlings if you have germinated inside.
When to Plant Watermelon
Plant your watermelon seeds from Spring to early Summer. Watermelon can take a while to produce so it is a good idea to get them in the ground early. As soon as temperatures average 20-25 degrees Celcius.
Care/ Maintenance
Young watermelon plants will need regular watering. Especially in the height of summer. The leaves will curl up and notify you that they are too dry. Avoid watering the leaves as this can allow powdery mildew to form. It can be a great idea to put a stick or marker where you plant the seeds. Once the plant is established, it can be hard to see where the main stem and roots are to water correctly. Placing a marker will help you water the correct part of the plant for maximum efficiency. Cover your soil with mulch – pea straw or lucerne can be a great option as it will start to break down and feed your plants.
Feed your plants regularly (every 2 weeks or so) with a liquid seaweed fertiliser for an extra boost of nutrients.
Heavy rain or excess watering when the fruit is nearing maturity, may cause the melon to crack open. Keep an eye on your ripening melons.
Watermelon can also be grown vertically! Especially the smaller fruiting varieties. Plant them near a trellis or frame and move the vines as they grow to latch onto the frame. They have strong tendrils that will hold them in place. Once the fruit starts to form you may need to support the weight so that they do not snap and fall. A mini hammock under the melon using a stretchy, breathable fabric such as a stocking can be useful.
Pollination/ Fruiting
Watermelons require pollination from a male to a female flower to form fruit. If you have plenty of bees in your garden, they should be able to do this for you. If you notice small watermelons forming and then dying off, this may mean you have a pollination problem. This can be aided by using a small paintbrush to dust the pollen of the male flower (single flower with no baby melon forming) to a female flower (flower with a baby melon at the base). This can help boost your success rate and grow more watermelon. Be sure to plant lots more flowers in between your plants to attract the bees if you ever have pollination problems.
Pests / Disease
Watermelon is relatively pest-resistant. They can get some fungal diseases in humid weather. It is important not to wet the leaves to prevent powdery mildew from forming. If you do start to see some powdery mildew, remove the leaves (if it is only a few) or create a spray of 1 part milk to 9 parts water and spray over the affected area. Once the fruits start to mature be aware of rodents or other animals finding your fruit.
How/ When to Harvest
Harvesting watermelon can be tricky! And devastating when you get it wrong (be prepared it may happen from time to time..). Under-ripe watermelon will be bland and lack flavour, whereas, over-ripe watermelon will be floury and granular.
Some ways to determine if your watermelon is ready:
Look for the curly tendrils closest to the watermelon stem. They should turn brown and dry when the watermelon is ready.
A light knock on the watermelon, it should sound slightly hollow when ready.
Carefully roll the melon over and the part that was touching the ground should be turning yellow.
Reproducing
Watermelon seeds are the easiest way to reproduce watermelon. Choose seeds from your best mature melons. Wash off the flesh and allow it to dry before storing it in a cool, dry, dark space. Watermelon can also be grown from cuttings. Do this early in the season otherwise, the vine will not have enough time to produce before the weather gets cold. Cut a 10cm piece of a side shoots off. You want to let the main leader vine grow so do not cut this. Cut just below a leaf as this is where the roots will form. Place in a jar of water until you see some roots form. Then plant it back out into the garden. This is more for a bit of fun as you will get the best crops from direct-sown seeds.
Cooking and Using Watermelon
Watermelon is so delicious eaten fresh but there are many other ways to prepare watermelon to use in both sweet or savoury dishes.
Watermelon Pairs well with: Mint, Lime, Basil, Citrus, Red Onion, Feta Cheese, Coconut, Yoghurt, Almonds, Jalapeno, Haloumi, Ginger
Watermelon ideas:
Fruit salad
Juice
Iceblocks
Salads
“Chips” or “Wedges” with dipping sauce
Fruit kebabs
Watermelon jerky
Grilled watermelon
Cocktails
Serving Bowls using the skin/shell
Cocktails and Mocktails
Carvings
Sorbet
Watermelon Cake
Flavoured Water
Salsa
Fruit leather
Syrup
Preserving the Harvest
Watermelon is best eaten cold and fresh but sometimes we can’t keep up with their generous yields. Dehydrated watermelon is a great way to use up a lot of extra watermelons. Watermelon jerky is extremely sweet and could make a good substitute for natural lollies. Other ways you could preserve your watermelon are Freezing cubes, juicing and freezing cubes or making syrup or chutney.
Rainbow slaw not only looks amazing but it’s also packed full of nutrients. Just like planting diversity creates a healthy garden, eating diversely also has many health benefits. Each vegetable has different levels of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, dietary fibre, and antioxidants. This slaw can be adjusted to suit your seasonal produce – see the notes for other vegetables to try out. Rainbow slaw is very quick and easy to make and can be a delicious and wholesome accompaniment to any meal.
Rainbow Slaw
Vibrant and full of nutrients, this Rainbow Slaw is the ultimate Spring side salad.
Ingredients
1 cup shredded Red Cabbage
2-3 Carrots
1 cup chopped Lettuce
1 medium Red Beetroot
3-4 Radishes
5cm cube Butternut Pumpkin
2 TBS Sunflower Seeds
Dressing
3 TBS Coconut (or greek) Yoghurt
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1 Clove Garlic
2 tsp finely chopped fresh Fennel Frond or Parsley
1 TBS Water
1 Tbs Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Chilli Flakes
Salt and Pepper to season
Instructions
Rinse your veggies and clean off any grit or soil.
Finely slice the Cabbage using the thin-medium section of the mandolin. If you don't have a mandoline, you can either grate or finely slice using a knife.
Peel the Carrot, Butternut, and Beetroot (The skins dressed in olive oil and seasoned make delicious chips - see notes below).
Using the Julienne teeth on the mandoline, finely slice the Carrot, Radish, Butternut, and Beetroot into thin strips. Use a grater if you do not have a mandoline.
Roughly chop your lettuce into small pieces.
Add a little of each vegetable to a bowl so they are all mixed without having to stir through (otherwise the beetroot will turn everything red and you will lose some of your colours).
Drizzle with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Lightly toss.
To make the dressing, add yogurt to a small bowl. Then add crushed garlic, finely chopped fennel frond, lemon juice, water, chilli flakes, and salt and pepper to season. Stir well and taste. Add extra salt or lemon juice if needed.
When ready to serve, drizzle the dressing over the salad and top with sunflower seeds and edible flowers - I used nasturtium petals.
Notes
- Use vegetable skins from Carrot, Beetroot, and Butternut to make vegetable chips
Coat your skins in a light drizzle of oil.
Place your vegetable skins on a baking tray and sprinkle with a little salt.
Cook at 190 degrees celsius for about 5 minutes turning once halfway through. Keep an eye on them as they are so thin they will overcook easily.
Remove when they are golden and slightly crispy. They will also crisp up as they cool.
- Other vegetables that would be great in this slaw are: coloured Capsicums, Fennel, Nasturtium leaves, other Beetroot Varieties.
Pick your fresh greens and herbs straight from the garden and turn them into these delicious green flatbreads. This recipe is quick and easy to make and can be used for a wide range of dishes. Roll thin for flatbread wraps or tear up and use as a dipping bread for hummus and other summery dips. These would also be delicious served with curry or stew.
Garden Green Flatbread
Yield: 8-10
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Additional Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Garden Green Flatbreads are easy to make and packed full of nutritious greens and herbs from the garden. These flatbreads are great for serving with summer dips, hummus or pile on your favourite salad for a healthy wrap.
Ingredients
3 cups Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
4 TBS Vegetable Oil
2 cups mixed greens and herbs*
1 sprig fresh Rosemary
3/4 cup milk
Instructions
In a large mixing bowl add flour, salt, baking powder, and mix. Then add in the oil and mix to a crumbly dough.
Remove the stalk and roughly chop up the rosemary leaves and add to the mix.
Prepare a bowl of iced water. Blanch the greens in a large shallow pan of boiling water for 30 seconds then add to the bowl of iced water to cool.
Warm the milk in a saucepan and add to a Blender. Strain the excess water off the greens and add to the blender. Blitz until smooth and combined.
Add the green mix to the flour to form a dough. Add a little extra flour if it is too wet and sticky.
Roll the dough into a ball, wrap with film, and refrigerate for 15mins.
Lightly flour the bench, roll out your flatbreads using golf ball-sized amounts of dough. The thinner the dough is the easier it will be to bend and wrap.
Heat a large pan with oil then add your flatbreads for 30 seconds on each side or until slightly golden.
Tear up the flatbreads and serve with dip, hummus or add your favourite salad to use as a wrap.
Notes
- The darker the greens are you use the more vibrant the colour will be.
- *Use greens such as Spinach, Chard leaves, Asian Green leaves, Parsley, Nasturtium, Sweet Potato, Fennel Frond
Soil is the KEY to a healthy, successful, and thriving garden. If you want to grow healthy, nutrient-dense food, you need healthy nutrient nutrient-producing soil. Healthy soil is ALIVE with a web of beneficial interconnected relationships that support life. If you want a thriving, resilient garden, start with the soil. Healthy soil is the foundation of a productive and sustainable garden. Soil is a living, breathing ecosystem filled with microbes, fungi, organic matter, and nutrients that work together to feed your plants and protect them from disease and drought.
In this post, you’ll learn how to build and maintain nutrient-rich, living soil that supports long-term garden health. Whether you’re starting from scratch or improving existing beds, these regenerative techniques will help you reduce inputs, boost biodiversity, and grow stronger, more nutrient-dense food—all while supporting the planet.
Watch the live masterclass for more info
Why is Soil Health Important?
Healthy soil is going to feed and nourish your plants so they can grow strong and healthy. If the soil is not providing those nutrients, plants may become weak. Weak plants are more likely to be attacked by bugs and if they do get attacked by bugs, they are more likely to die. Whereas a healthy plant will be able to push on through and keep producing.
Healthy Plants – Healthy plants grow quicker and easier.
Bug Resistance – Healthy plants are less susceptible to bug infestations. Bugs tend to attack weaker plants and then the whole team piles on and you get diseases. So, having healthy strong plants will reduce the amount of loss and also, if your healthy plants do get some bugs, they will be strong enough to continue to produce.
Increased Harvests – Healthy soil is going to help you get better harvests. Your plants will be happy and healthy, and therefore, will produce a bigger and better harvest. Which of course, we want!
Less Disease – as per the bug-resistant – healthy strong plants will be less likely to get diseases. Diseases usually come at the end when the plant is already under stress. So, soil health can reduce the risk of that.
Promotes Soil Life – Getting the foundations right and building healthy soil, will be a snowball effect. Healthy soil will attract so many beneficial insects and microorganisms that will improve your soil further. Worms are fantastic for aerating the soil by tunneling. They also provide nutrients by eating plant matter to produce a by-product that can be easily absorbed by the plants. Healthy soil will have a hive of activity and produce nutrients to do all the work for you!
Better Nutrition – If we grow food in poor soil with no nutrients, how can we expect the food that plants produce to be extremely high in nutritional value? It’s just not going to happen. The better the soil health is, the more nutrients will be transferred into the food we eat.
Less Watering – Healthy soil will require less water. Fibre and plant matter in the soil will retain moisture. If the soil is dead and dry, water will run off it, or, just filter right through and your plants will need constant watering. So, healthy soil is also waterwise.
Abundance without Force – We want to create sustainable gardens that consistently produce food without having to force it. Poor soil will mean plants will grow slowly, get bugs and diseases and require more care and maintenance. We will constantly be having to feed them, water them, and fight off the bugs. It’s a tiring concept that is not sustainable long-term. This is what commercial soil looks like. It has been stripped and never replenished, so to get the crops they need to sell, they have to constantly feed with artificial food and spray bugs with pesticides. This will further kill of the living soil micro-organisms, so the next year, they will need to repeat and maybe even increase. Its a downward spiral. We on the other hand, will be caring for our soils and the plants will just grow themselves. Meaning, we can put in less and less work overtime, and receive more and more food. I know which way I would rather grow!
Where to Start to improve your Soil?
Ok, so we know why it is so important to build healthy soil, but where do we start?
Observe
Whether you have just moved into a new property or you are new to gardening, observing is key! Take a look around your gardens. Is there rubbish in the soil, are there buildings nearby, what would they be used for? Animals? Plants? What is growing in the area? This can be a good start to figuring out your soil health.
The other thing you will want to do is, have a little dig in the gardens. Dig down at least 30cm and observe what kind of soil you have. The top layer may be covered in mulch or grass, and then, the next inch or so will be the topsoil. This is the most fertile soil. Further down you will see more of your true soil. Is it sandy or is it clay-heavy? Observe, touch, and explore. Note this down as this will help you figure out what to do next.
Soil Testing
Professional tests for toxicity – If you find rubbish or anything that seems like it could have a toxic effect on your soil, it would be best to get it professionally tested. This is very important if you want to grow food directly in the soil.
Jar test for soil structure – There are also two easy tests you can do at home to find out the structure and pH of your soil. You can test your soil structure by placing a small soil sample (1/2 cup) in a jar of water. Give it a shake, and allow it to sit for a day. Layers will start to appear and you will be able to see the sand, clay, and silt levels.
If you have clay-heavy soil water will get clogged and not free drain. However, if you have really sandy soils, the water will disappear through the gaps and not stay long enough to be absorbed by the plants. You can amend your soil by adding other materials to help balance out and rehabilitate your soil structure. But first, you need to understand what you are working with.
pH test – The pH test will help you work out where your base soil is. pH is important because it affects the root activity and the absorption of nutrients from the soil. Most plants like to grow around pH neutral 6-7 so it is best to try and get the majority of your gardens to a neutral level. Some plants do prefer it a little more alkaline or acidic. Blueberries for example, like more acidic soil. It is a good idea to test your soil if you have never grown in it before or you have just purchased new soil. A pH test kit can be found at your local garden centres or Bunnings. To test your soil, just dig down 10-15cm for veggie gardens and if you’re testing soil for deeper root plants like fruit trees, take a sample from 25-30cm down. Then you place the indicator dye and Barium powder from the kit and match the indications to the colour chart provided.
Now that you have an understanding of what you’re working with, we want to create our baseline foundations. This is where we prep our gardens.
Remove rubbish and rubble.
Add compost – if you don’t do anything else, this is the most important takeaway. Compost is the best thing to add to your soil no matter where it is are at. Good compost supplies organic matter for soil building, fertilizer to feed plants, and most importantly, it’s packed with living soil mirco-organisms that kickstart biological activity. It adds fresh, healthy microbes that will start to digest the nutrients present in the soil and feed your plants. Compost is the key ingredient for building and maintaining healthy soil. If you’ve just moved to a new garden and want productivity, then compost will rapidly make your soils fertile.
Cover – you want to protect all that good soil and hard work you have just done. We will dive in a little deeper next about why covering and mulching is so important and the different ways to do that
How to Build Soil for a Sustainable Garden?
Now that we have our foundations sorted, it is so important that we continue to build soil on a regular basis. Below are some tips to add to your gardening routines, to help build layers of good soil. Helping your gardens to thrive for many years to come.
Compost – start composting at home and turning your food scraps, household recycling and greenwaste into healthy soil to feed your gardens. It is important that we continue to keep adding nutrients to our soil as the plants use it to grow. I like to add compost at the change of each season and top up my garden beds. If you want to learn more about composting click here to watch.
Chop & Drop – this is one of my favourite methods because it’s so easy. I don’t use this method on all of my gardens as it is more suited to fruit trees or areas where you don’t have a lot of little plants. I do this in my food forest style back fence garden. Everything that grows in that area gets returned directly to the soil. So when i prune trees or pull weeds, or cut plants, I just chop them up and leave them in the garden as mulch. This covers the soil and will break down and release nutrients to feed the plants. Eventually, over time, the layers of good, healthy soil will get thicker and thicker. Which is what we want! This method can also be used for paddocks or areas you don’t use often. Growing specific plants in an area where you want to use this method can be a great idea. Plants that hold nutrients in their leaves such as comfrey are great to add to the garden for this exact purpose. Then just give them a haircut and allow them to re-enter the soil.
Mulch– It is so important that we cover the soil. Protecting the soil from drying out or from excess rain washing away nutrients. Because, if soil gets too hot or dry, the plants will start to die, and so will the good bugs and micro-organisms in the soil. Then, once that happens, the soil is no longer supporting life, and it becomes dirt that will not grow anything. Cover your soil with a thick layer of mulch and this will start to break down and feed the soil. Basically, turning your whole garden into a living compost system! Always try to mimic nature. In nature, leaves fall to create a cover for the soil and then breakdown to produce rich, healthy soil for the young seeds to grow.
Cover crops – Cover crops can be grown to protect the soil during a down season and then cut to mulch and feed the soil. Cover crops are planted specifically to build and hold soil and to smother weeds. They range from long-growing perennials to short-term green manures but the aim is the same: a solid cover of plants. Their leaves will protect the soil from hammering rains and eventually cover the surface with nutritious, topsoil. Weeds can actually be more beneficial for your garden than bare soil. Weeds protect the soil and support soil health just as any other cover crop would.
Plant for diversity – Different plants have different root structures and depths. They also use and excrete different nutrients. It is important to grow a wide variety of plants together to access different layers and levels within the soil. There is so much going on under the soil with the relationships between the roots and the microorganisms. The more diversity we have in plants, the more life we are encouraging beneath the surface. Diversity also helps reduce severe deficiencies, as all the plants aren’t competing for the exact same nutrients.
Minimal disruptions – it is important to try to keep the digging of the soil to a minimum. Unless you need to amend drainage or plant something, try not to disrupt the soil. Add layers on top of layers and allow the soil microbiology to thrive.
Go organic – this one is quite self-explanatory but, we want to reduce any harmful sprays and unnecessary fertilizers. These can kill off our delicate microbes, which we are of course trying to grow and promote.
Natural fertilizers– It is beneficial to use natural fertilizers weak and often. Things like banana skin fertilizers are great for adding potassium to the soil for your fruiting plants. Weed tea and other teas made from breaking down plants in water, can also be a great way to recycle nutrients back into the soil.
Can I use any type of animal manure?
Herbivore animal manure is a great source of nutrients for growing food. This includes animals such as sheep, horses, cows, goats, rabbits, and chickens. It is best to choose composted animal manure rather than fresh off the paddock. This is because fresh grass seeds will still be viable and your garden may become overgrown with all sorts of weeds and grasses. This will end up causing you more trouble than it was worth.
Composting can help break down the seeds and leave you with weed-free nutrient-rich soil. The other reason it is better to choose composted manure rather than raw is that it can be very harsh on plant root systems. If you do not have the option for old or composted manure, then it is best to bury it on a bottom layer of the garden so the new young roots won’t dive straight into it. By being deeper under the soil the weed seeds will not get the light they need to grow so this can also help with the seed issues.
Composting
Composting is not only great for the fertility of your soil and the secret to AMAZING vegetables, but it also stops waste from going to landfills. There are a whole bunch of ways to do this, depending on your living situation. You can make your own compost bin out of recycled wood, find a second-hand tumbler online, or purchase one. You can also simply dig a hole in the garden and bury it (be careful of attracting pests). There are also some new ways for people with no land to connect with others who do and give them their compost scraps. Community gardens, local Facebook groups, or now in Australia, there is even an app! Sharewaste
Care for your soil and your plants will grow with more ease, abundance, and it will feel less forced. Working with nature and not against it.
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Rosemary and roast vegetables are a classic combo for a very good reason… They taste amazing! These Rosemary, Feta and Roast Veggie hand pies are so full of flavour and will keep you wanting more. This recipe, like most of my recipes, is completely versatile to what you have growing in your garden. Recipes that can be easily adapted to suit your seasonal harvests will make your life so much easier. Read the notes section for optional ingredients to swap.
This recipe can also be used for leftovers. Pre-make a batch of pastry and keep it in the freezer ready to turn your leftover Sunday roasts into delicious hand pies.
Rosemary, Feta and Roast Veggie Hand Pies
Yield: 16 hand pies
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour50 minutes
These Rosemary, Feta and Roast Veggie hand pies are so delicious. It may be useful to make two batches of pastry and keep one set in the freezer for future leftover roast veggies. This recipe could also be adapted to make one large family pie.
Ingredients
Pastry
150g cold Butter
2 cups Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
5 TBS Iced Water
1 TBS Sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup of fresh chopped Rosemary
Filling
500g Butternut Pumpkin
200g Sweet Potato or Potato
4 Radish (optional)
1 Red Onion
3 Cloves Garlic
1 fresh Rosemary stalk
Oil for Roasting
200g block of Feta
5-6 Rainbow Chard Stalks and Leaves
Sauce for Filling
3/4 cup Raw Cashews
3/4 cup Water
Instructions
Pastry
1. Cut the butter into 2cm cubes and place in the freezer for 5-10 minutes while preparing the other ingredients.
2. Add ice and water to a bowl.
3. Add the 5 TBSP of ice-cold water and egg yolks into a bowl and mix until combined. Set aside.
4. In a separate mixing bowl add butter and flour and rub together roughly. Try to do this quickly as to not heat the butter up too much with your hands.
5. Mix in the chopped rosemary, salt, apple cider vinegar, sugar then add the water and egg mixture to the flour mix a little at a time. Mixing to form a dough.
6. Roll to form a ball, cover (I use compostable film) and pop in the fridge to cool while you start on the filling.
Filling
1. Pre-heat your oven to 180degrees celsius.
2. Rinse and chop your Butternut Pumpkin and Sweet Potato into chunks (roughly 6cm. I like to leave the skin on both) and cut your Radish in half or leave whole if they are small.
3. Add to a large roasting dish and drizzle your veggies with oil. Strip and chop 1 stalk of fresh rosemary. Mix in with veggies.
4. Place your veggies in the oven for 25 mins.
5. While your veggies cook, dice the red onion and place in a frying pan with a drizzle of oil. Cook on a medium heat for 10min then add in chopped garlic for a further 2minutes.
6. Cut the rainbow chard stalks in to slices and roughly slice up the leaves. Add to the onion mix, stir and cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
7. After 25minutes remove the roast veggies, mix and turn them over then add the block of feta to the centre. Put back in the oven for a further 20-30 minutes until cooked through.
8. While the veggies continue to cook, blend the raw almonds and water to make a cream. Refrigerate.
9. Remove the roast veggies once cooked and with a fork, roughly smash up the chunks of veggies and mix through the feta. Dont over mix as you want small pieces of veggies and feta in each bite. Add the onion and rainbow chard and mix through. Cover and allow the mix to cool.
Assembly
1. Remove your pastry from the fridge and roll on a floured surface. To make the small round hand pies, cut out 10cm diameter rounds at roughly 5mm thick. Use a cookie cutter or an upturned glass to get the outline and cut around with a knife (ensure you have an even amount for tops and bottoms). If you would like the larger half moon size - use a side plate to cut large rounds. Place the rounds on a plate or tray, cover and return to the fridge to cool down again for 10minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 200degrees celsius.
3. Drizzle the cashew cream over the roast veggie mix. Divide your pastry rounds in half so there are tops and bottoms. Then add one heaped tablespoon of veggie mix to each bottom. Place the other pastry round on top and carefully push down the edges to secure. Use a folk to further press and secure the edges. Make a small hole or slit in the top to allow air to escape during cooking. If making the half moon pies - add mixture to one side the fold the pastry over down the middle and secure the edges.
4. To create a nice brown finish, brush the pastry with egg wash (one egg mixed) or milk.
5. Return to the fridge for 10minutes to cool again.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden. The larger half moon pies may take 15-20minutes.
7. Remove and serve warm with a fresh garden side salad or the green sauce from the Cauliflower recipe is also delicious combo.
Notes
1. The butter needs to be as cold as possible.
2. It is best to make the pastry ahead of time so it has a few hours to cool in the fridge.
3. Mix and match your favourite root vegetables such as carrots or beetroot.
4. To replace the fresh rosemary with dried rosemary use 1 TBS in the pastry and 1 tsp on the roast veggies.
5. Optional - replace the cashew cream with gravy.
6. Swap Rainbow chard for spinach or other greens.
7. Swap Feta for Cottage Cheese, Mozzarella or leave out if preferred.
