Savory Root Vegetable Pot Pie
I love root vegetables. They are so nutritious and full of flavor! They are also nice and hearty and perfect in a savory pie. In fact, the root vegetable pot pie recipe I will share with you today is inspired by the savory pies in The Lord Of The Rings.
This recipe for Butterbur’s Savory Pie Rustic Double-Crust Pie with Root Vegetables is actually from a whole cookbook devoted to foods from imaginary iconic worlds. It is called GASTRONOGEEK: 42 Recipes from Your Favorite Imaginary Worlds by Thibaud Villanova and Maxime Léonard.
They share recipes inspired by pop culture favorite movies, comics, manga, television series, and literature. This makes cooking more fun and it also makes for really fun theme nights!
Naturally, I was immediately drawn to The Lord of the Rings fandom and the Butterbur’s Savory Pie Recipe since we love Tolkein and savory pies.
Here is a bit of food for thought:
“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien

Root Vegetable Pot Pie, Inspired By The Savory Pies In The Lord Of The Rings
Excerpted from GASTRONOGEEK: 42 Recipes from Your Favorite Imaginary Worlds by Thibaud Villanova and Maxime Léonard. Copyright © 2020. Available from Running Press, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS
APPETIZER
Butterbur’s Savory Pie Rustic Double-Crust Pie with Root Vegetables
Serves 4 – Preparation time: 15 MIN – Cooking time: 1 HOUR
It is always with emotion that Samwise Gamgee recounts the epic tale that led him and Mr. Frodo Baggins out of the Shire. Even more stirring is he when he tells the tales of the Elven feasts or the meager meals he and Frodo took on their journey as they roamed the vast lands of Middle-earth. From Buckland to the Barrow-downs, from Lothlórien to Mordor, you will discover here, brave adventurer, those things by which you can relive some of the memories of Samwise Gamgee, son of Hamfast the Gaffer, who went from gardener to master of the Shire.

Butterbur’s Savory Pie Rustic Double-Crust Pie with Root Vegetables
To make this rustic pie, a specialty served in The Prancing Pony by innkeeper Barliman Butterbur, prepare the vegetables for the filling.
Root Vegetable Pot Pie – Butterbur’s Savory Pie
Delicious savory pie with lovely flaky pastry crust and root vegetable filling.
Ingredients
- 2 rutabagas
- 2 parsnips
- 2 Agria or Yukon Gold potatoes
- ¼ small cooking pumpkin
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil
- 5 cups (150 g) fresh spinach
- 2 teaspoons (10 g) unsalted butter
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 large (165 g) eggs
- 1¼ cups (300 ml) crème fraîche
- Pinch of quatre épices spice blend
- 2 sheets (400 g) store-bought puff pastry dough
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Peel the rutabagas, parsnips, and potatoes. Set them aside. Peel the pumpkin and scrap out the seeds. Slice the flesh into ⅓-inch (1 cm)-thick slices, and place them in a stockpot. Drizzle the slices with the olive oil. Cook over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally
- to prevent the pieces from sticking together; drain, and set aside.
- Wash and dry the spinach. Cook the spinach in the butter just until wilted. Adjust seasonings to taste, then transfer the spinach to a plate or colander to drain.
- Cook the remaining peeled vegetables in separate saucepans of boiling salted water to preserve their individual flavors, just until slightly softened. Remove the vegetables from the saucepans, immerse them briefly in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking, then remove them to drain. Once cooled, thinly slice them.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a fork, add the creme fraiche, and stir to combine. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper and the quatre épices spice blend; set aside.
- Line the bottom a tart pan with a circle of parchment paper.
- Cut the puff pastry into two circles, one measuring 9. inches (24 cm) and the other 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter.
- Prick the dough circles with a fork, and line the bottom of the tart pan with the larger circle. Fill the tart with layers of the cooked vegetables, adding them in this order: the spinach, slices of rutabaga, slices of pumpkin, potatoes, and parsnips. Pour the egg mixture into the pan to cover the vegetables. Place the remaining dough disk on top. Crimp the edges of the dough circles together to seal them completely, then bake until golden on top, about 30 minutes.
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That’s all it takes to prepare a meal to satisfy the men of Bree and the little people of the Shire.
I hope you enjoy this delicious root vegetable pot pie. Making this Lord Of The Rings themed recipe is a fun and a great way to make a movie night a special experience.
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