Meal ideas for puff pastry - dairy free is possible

[SoupaDoupa]

I'm not quite sure why but I fancied making something with puff pastry. I bought a ready to roll sheet, but am now stuck for ideas as to what I actually want to make with it.

I originally thought some kind of pastry topped pot pie or a sausage type tart. But I've just clued in that most pies (ie: chicken etc) will have some milk / dairy in them. My son is slightly intolerant. He can handle small amounts, so if it's only a bit and it's cooked he'll be fine. But if it's a lot of milk then I'd prefer not to use that. We're not fans of dairy alternative milks either, so don't want to just sub out the milk for a dairy free option.

Can anyone suggest a good low dairy or dairy free meal idea that I can make use of this puffed pastry?

You could use beef mince, onions, veggies and make a minced beef pie. I'd cook the mince mix first with seasoning, stock cube and Worcestershire sauce. Reserve the gravy, place mix in a pie dish and top with the pastry.

Use a mixture of Mediterranean vegetables, eg peppers, courgette, aubergine. Slice then roast grill or fry them. Lay out your pastry on a baking sheet and lightly mark a border all round. Spread some tomato purée or passata or use sliced fresh tomatoes, add the lightly cooked Mediterranean vegetables. Bake in a hot oven.
You could add olives for extra interest, or use a bag of frozen mixed Mediterranean vegetables for convenience, or use a different mix of vegetables such as mushrooms & onions.

Giant sausage roll - with some onion chutney, or diced apple or stuffing on the top of the sausage meat.

You can make the chicken pie with stock (and white wine) in place of dairy if that's what you want.

Beef stew with a pie topping.

Corned beef hash with a puff pastry lid
Salmon or beef wellingtons

Sweet rather than savoury, but mince pies made with puff pastry are the best!

My kids eat lots of things they won't normally eat in pie form so we have it often. For my veggie dc I do butter bean and sun dried tomato paste or puy lentils. My dc with allergies likes chicken (I use leftovers from a roast) or salmon with and leek, mushroom or sweet corn and I don't bother with a white sauce or anything like that as it's fine without and he has a dairy allergy.

Steak and ale pie

Proper puff pastry has a ton of butter in anyway.,

@ChardonnaysBeastlyCat not necessarily. Most brands I have come across are dairy free.

Those are the ones I avoid. That’s why I said “proper” puff pastry.

Does the pastry not have butter in it?

My kids like puff pastry pizza

I roll it out into a rectangle and score a smaller rectangle inside on which I put a filling so I make sort of a tart. The edges rise nicely.

Dc like it when I put oil and garlic in the middle with a brush with tuna, anchovies, chopped olives and red onions on top. Then after it’s cooked in the oven I’ll add cooked green beans, rocket and Parmesan (although you can leave this off)

The book I got this from describes it as something like tarte nicoise so maybe I also put eggs on.

This was going to be my suggestion as well.

Sausage plait (easier than it looks)
Veggie pot pie - I use cabbage if spring greens aren’t in season, and leeks are nice too.

I'm not a fan or creamy, dairy heavy sauces so just make stock based sauces instead, chicken,leek and bacon for example just form your sauce with stock and thicken with flour, it can be help to add more herbs and seasoning. Or add honey and whole grain mustard to the sauce.

Pasty's could work well, what ever filling you fancy, curried veg and chickpea, mince beef and onion, pork with apple and shallots.

Some great ideas here thank you!! I totally forgot about Salmon En-croute (?) / wrapped in puff pastry. He loves that so I think I will use some for that. A cottage pie with a puffed pastry top is also a good idea that everyone will like.

As for butter in the puff pastry I think the one I got is an all butter one. Butter doesn't seem to bother him and he has it every day on his toast.

It's more the amount of pure dairy that bothers him. So we try to stay away from things like milk on cereals, ice cream, yogurt, cream, lots of cheese, etc.

Small amount are fine.

I make a tray baked topped pied with chicken and no milk at all.

Two Leeks.
Some Chicken.
Two small potatoes
Bacon.
Gravy granules.
Herbs

Peel, chop into small pieces an boil your potatoes for 20mins.
Whilst you are doing this, fry up your bacon. Put into a baking dish.
Use same pan and fry your leeks. Add to baking dish.
Cook you chicken. Once its cooked, add the potatoes and most of the water you used to boil the potatoes.
Add herbs and gravy granules.
Add to baking dish.
Sling the puff pastry on top. You will usually have some left to do something else.
Cook. Eat enjoy.

No milk.

Otherwise you can't go wrong with a steak and ale. No milk.

I think you are reading the wrong recipes because I'm struggling to think of one with milk in tbh!

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/steak-ale-pie

This is generally what I do for a steak and ale pie.

Otherwise go for a fancy sausage roll. Theres billions of recipes along these lines, you can do cheaply (use ordinary sausages, remove skin and then add whatever you like).