Autumn Pie ‒ Syyspiiras

When hearing a Finn talk about making a pitsa you might naturally assume it's the same thing as Italian pizza. Wrong. That's where the name comes from, yes, but usually the only thing they have in common is that both are oven-baked breads with a topping. The typical pitsa you get at a coffee table, young people's sauna party or even as a Sunday's family meal is more of a pie with a thick layer of a very cheesy topping. For my generation it's a comfort food.

Since I don't want to add to the confusion I'm just calling this a pie. Usually me and my spouse top these with everything we find from the fridge, ending up with a piece higher than my mouth. For guests however, it could be a bit more balanced and better planned.

The dough:
- 6 dl water
- 1.5 dl rape oil
- 6 dl dark wheat flour
- 6 dl ryemeals
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 teaspoons baking powder

The topping:
- 200 g or 0.5 l fresh chanterelles
- 6 dried tomato pieces
- 1 large onion
- 2 dl soy flakes (textured soy protein)
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 dl tomato sauce
- turmeric
- marjoram
(- 100 g melting soy cheese)
(- 3 dl soy yogurt)

Chop half of the mushrooms and the onion. Fry them with the soy flakes and spices. Mix the dough ingredients. Chop rest of the mushrooms and the dried tomato pieces as well. Put a parchment paper on a baking pan and spread the dough on it evenly. Spread the tomato sauce on the pie, then the fried mushrooms and the fresh mushrooms and dried tomato pieces.

If you want to use soy cheese, ground it into the soy yoghurt. Perfect the pie by spreading the mixture on it. Bake 15-20 minutes in a 250°C oven. Sprinkle some marjoram on the pie when still hot.

Another favourite combination of mine is tempeh slices fried crunchy, lingonberries (or pineapple pieces) and blue-style soy cheese. Weirdly, I don't think I've ever seen fruits and berries used in salty dishes outside Finland. Here it's actually quite common.

Nutritional values / 1825 g :
energy 2818 kcal
fat 97 g
protein 90 g
carbohydrates 244 g
fiber 40 g

Sunroot Puré Soup ‒ Maa-artisokkasosekeitto

Purés and mashes are an easy form of enjoying the new root vegetable harvest. Carrots, beets or rutabagas are just cooked soft, mashed and spiced. For a change I used sunroots instead of potatoes for this lunch soup but don't think the difference between them is that huge.

The recipe is mostly from Kotimaiset kasvikset.

- 500 g sunroots
- 1 small parsnip
- half a leek (the white part)
- 7 dl water
- 1 dose of stock
- 1 dl oat cream / 100 g soft tofu
- 2 tablespoons rape oil
- nutmeg
- black pepper
- chervil
- 1 onion
- 3 dl soy flakes

Peel the sunroots and the parsnip. Chop them and the leek. Boil until soft. While waiting, fry the onion together with the soy flakes until crispy. Add the spices into the pot and puré the soup. Sprinkle the soy flake mixture on top of the soup after you've scooped it to your plate.

Nutritional values / 1 l:
energy 917 kcal
fat 49 g
protein 34 g
carbohydrates 79 g
fiber 37 g

Bilberry Milk ‒ Mustikkamaito

Hello again! It's been a while since I've last cooked anything. This is a truly amazing time for that. Forests are full of berries and mushrooms only waiting for someone to pick them. Domestic vegetables are at their best and cheapest. Also, the weather is slowly starting to get chillier so I can concentrate on gaining more body fat under my thickest sweater to hibernate through winter.

While the bilberry season is still on however, I thought I'd restart blogging with a very simple yet very tasty drink. This is something that kids love since they can do it themselves all the way from picking the berries into a jug.

- 1 glass of bilberries (strawberries are another classic)
- about 1/2 glass of soy milk
- sugar to taste

Squash the bilberries into their glass. Sprinkle some sugar on them and then fill the glass with milk. Stir just a little so that the milk turns blue.

Nutritional values / 3 dl glass:
energy 99 kcal
fat 2 g
protein 4 g
carbohydrates 15 g
fiber 5 g