Tuna Pie and Mushroom Soup

Tuna Pie and Mushroom Soup

Here’s my fish pie for the super health conscious! It’s got whole wheat flour crust with a protein-rich filling of tuna, eggs, crushed soya granules and a bit of cheese. The soya granules, besides adding to its protein value; also absorbs moisture from the mixture. I’ve added lots of spring onions along with the greens, capsicum. There’s butter of course to give it the traditional flaky effect but the quantity is lesser than what a normal pie contains. 

For potato lovers, there's a variation. You could replace the top crust with potato (slightly cooked) - a healthy alternative to wheat flour. 

So go right ahead and enjoy it, keeping the portion size in mind of course. That's my first rule even for a healthy snack or meal. It’s also a great meal-on-the-go for a diabetic. Best to have it while it’s still fresh and warm.

I paired the pie with a healthy, yummy mushroom soup. Although I used a little butter to sauté the veggies, it’s a super healthy and filling soup.

Tuna Pie

Ingredients

Crust

Pie pan - 7"

Whole Wheat Flour – 2.5 cups

Salt - ½ tsp

Jaggery - 1 tbsp

Butter (chilled) – ½ cup

Water (ice cold) - 6-8 tbsp

Top Crust

Milk – 2 tbsp

Honey – 1 tbsp

Method

Crust

Combine the flour, salt, and jaggery in a bowl. Add the butter cubes and rub into the flour with your fingers till the mixture resembles a coarse meal.

Sprinkle ice water on it to make crumbly dough. Mix so that it just forms a ball that holds together.

Refrigerate it for a couple of hours

Topping For the Crust

Combine the milk and honey in a bowl and keep aside. Brush it all over the pie crust to give it a golden brown colour when baked.

Tuna Filling

Ingredients

Tuna pieces – 1 cup

Spring onion (1 bunch) – 1

Capsicum (big) – 1

Salt – to taste

Soya sauce – 2 tbsp

Pepper sauce – ¼ cup

Sriracha sauce – 1 tbsp

Hoisin sauce – 1 tbsp 

Black pepper (crushed) – 2 tbsp

Cooking Oil – 1 tbsp

Soya Granubles
Ingredients

Soya granules (crushed) - 1/4 cup

Scrambled egg

Ingredients

Eggs – 2

Onion – 1

Ginger-garlic-green chili paste – 1 tbsp (more or less according to taste)

Curry masala – 1 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Cooking Oil – 1 tbsp

Tomato – 1/2

Method
Tuna

Clean the tuna pieces

Add a bit of salt and turmeric powder and microwave for 5 to 10 mins

Cool and remove the bones and skin

Shred it

Heat 1 tbsp oil

Add sliced onions and fry till they turn translucent

Add capsicum pieces and fry till soft

Add all the sauces and pepper powder

Mix well

Add shredded tuna and mix well

Egg

Heat oil

Add onions, paste and fry till soft

Add tomato pieces, masala and salt and mix well

Beat the egg and add

Mix well

Add this to the tuna filling and mix well

Soya
Crush the soya granules in a mixie and add to the filling

Assembling The Pie

Place the chilled dough between two sheets of wax paper or plastic sheets

Press down the dough with the heel of your palm to flatten it

Pull it outward to stretch the dough and roll it out to a large round of quarter inch thickness

Check that it is bigger than the pie pan
Grease a pie pan and line the bottom with parchment paper

Transfer the rolled out dough to the prepared pie pan

Gently press it in so that the dough fills out the inner edges and corners

Some part will still hang over the sides of the pan

Fill it with the tuna and egg mix evenly

Roll out the second pie dough in a similar way

Place it over the filling

Let the edges of the two layers overlap and seal them together

Trim off the extra bit

Brush the top with the milk and honey mixture

Make small slits all over on the top to let the steam escape

Preheat the oven to 180 C

Bake it in the preheated oven until the crust is golden brown for about 40 minutes.

Cut into wedges and serve warm 

Variation: Cover the pie with layers of parboiled potato slices instead of dough. Top with chili flakes

Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

Mushroom – 1 packet

Broccoli – ¼ cup

French Beans – 6 or 7

Capsicum – 1 (medium)

Salt – to taste

Pepper (crushed) – ½ tsp

Butter – 1 tbsp

Vegetable stock – 1 cup

Method

Slice the mushrooms

Saute in butter

Keep aside one-fourth of the mushrooms

Puree the rest

Stir fry the veggies

Add vegetable stock and mushroom puree

Cook on low heat

Add salt and crushed pepper

Add the sauteed mushrooms that were kept aside

Serve hot

Health Benefits of Tuna

Heart friendly. Contains omega-3 fatty acids

Lowers blood pressure

Boosts immune system

Protein rich

Helps in weight loss

Strengthens bones

Improves skin health

Boosts metabolism

Health Benefits of Omega-3

Omega-3 fatty acids are a category of polyunsaturated fats (PUFA) that help to maintain cell membranes of every cell in our body.  Omega-3 fatty acids are considered essential, and we need them to function normally. The 3 main omega-3s are EPA, DHA and ALA. 

ALA,DHA and EPA are not made by our body,  so we need to get them from our diet. EPA and DHA are the primary omega-3s you need to support heart health and can be found in fatty fish like tuna, salmon, mackerel and omega-3 supplements.

These fatty acids provide amazing health benefits ranging from improving symptoms of existing disease (like lowering triglycerides) to preventing occurrence of age-related macular degeneration and Alzheimer’s disease. They also help to keep our skin clear and beautiful, keep allergies and inflammation under control, reduce joint pain, reduce symptoms of depression, to name a few.

Heart Benefits

Lower triglycerides (blood fat) reduce heart attack, abnormal heart rhythms, and strokes in people with known cardiovascular disease. It also slows the buildup of atherosclerotic plaques (hardening of the arteries), and lowers blood pressure slightly.

Lowers levels of depression

research suggests that omega-3s may help protect against Alzheimer's disease and dementia, and have a positive effect on gradual memory loss linked to aging

Reduces Inflammation

Rheumatoid Arthritis:  A number of studies have found that fish oil supplements significantly reduced stiffness and joint pain.

Lubricates Joints

Health Benefits of Capsicum

 Anti-inflammatory

Anti-cancer

Improves heart health

Antioxidant

Immunity booster

Treats diabetic neuropathy

Health Benefits of Mushroom

Button mushrooms reduce inflammation in arterial cells and prevent white blood cells from sticking to arterial walls - heart disease prevention

Boosts immune system

Stops growth of breast cancer tumors

Contains high amounts of copper needed to produce blood cells and maintain heart health

Other nutrients are vitamins C, D and B, selenium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium and zinc