Vegetable Parcels

Vegetable parcel is a fun party snack recipe where crunchy vegetables tossed in lip smacking tomato sauce are wrapped in a soft chewy bread shaped as parcels. They are vegetarian, egg free, great as snacks or side dish with pizza, pasta and soup.

These yummy savory vegetable parcels are perfect for dinner parties, potluck, Thanksgiving, holiday season, kids birthday party or even high tea. The recipe is inspired from Dominos zingy parcel and it is:

• Egg-free
• Vegetarian
• Easy to make snack or side dish
• Customisable as per your liking.

Veggie Parcel Components:

Dough: First we prepare a simple dough with flour, salt, milk, water, sugar and yeast. You can replace milk with water but I prefer using it as it make the bread softer & subtly sweet. The dough is put to rest for 2-3 hrs till it doubles up in volume.

If you don’t have time to make dough from scratch, you can even use store bought pizza dough or puff pastry to make these parcels.

Vegetables: I like to use fresh crunchy vegetable in parcel filling like onion, colored bell peppers, garlic, sweet corn, peas, carrots. You can also use other veggies of your choice like french beans, jalapeños, olives, broccoli or mushrooms or use frozen vegetables after thawing.

Sauces & Seasoning: The sautéed vegetables are mixed with pizza sauce, ketchup, mixed dried herbs (Italian seasoning), black pepper mayonnaise & little bit of sriracha (chilli sauce) to make a zingy tantalising filling.

Cheese: Some shredded mozzarella or blended cheese gives these veg parcels perfect creaminess and richness. Use any meltable cheese of your choice.

Variations:

• Paneer / Tofu Parcel: You can add paneer cubes, tofu cubes or any protein of your choice to these parcels. To make Indian fusion snack, skip the pizza sauce and instead make the filling used in this paneer tikka sandwiches recipe using Indian spices.
• Spanakopita Parcel: Spanakopita is a greek savory pie made with spinach, feta cheese and fresh herbs. You can use that filling in these parcels also.
• Pizza Parcels: Use only pizza sauce, cheese and any pizza toppings of your liking to make pizza parcels.

These parcels can be served as snacks or side dish with pasta, casserole dishes or soup recipes like-

• Cottage Cheese Pasta
• Bechamel Sauce Pasta
• Vegetarian Shepherds Pie
• Broccoli Cheese Casserole
• Roasted Tomato Garlic Soup

Ingredients: (Makes 10 pieces)

• For dough:
  • All purpose flour (or Maida)- 2 cups (250 gms)
  • Water (lukewarm)-1/3 cup (75 gms)
  • Milk (lukewarm)- 1/3 cup (84 gms)
  • Sugar-1 tsp (5 gms)
  • Active dry yeast-3/4 tsp
  • Salt- 1 tsp
  • Garlic Powder-1/2 tsp
  • Mixed Dried Herbs-1/2 tsp
  • Oil-1 + 1/2 tsp
• For filling:
  • Oil-2 tsp
  • Garlic Cloves (minced)-2
  • Onion (chopped)- 1/2 cup
  • Coloured bell peppers (chopped)- 1/2 cup
  • Carrots (chopped)- 1/3 cup
  • Peas- 1/4 cup
  • Sweet Corn Kernels- 1/4 cup
  • Pizza Sauce- 3 tbsp
  • Ketchup- 1 tbsp
  • Sriracha / Chilli Sauce- 3 tsp (to taste)
  • Mayonnaise- 3 tbsp
  • Italian seasoning- 1/2 tsp
  • Crushed Black pepper- 1/2 tsp (to taste)
  • Salt- 1/2 tsp (to taste)
  • Shredded Cheese- 1/2 to 3/4 cup
  • Milk- 2 tbsp (for brushing)
  • Melted Butter – 2 tbsp (for brushing)

( I have used frozen peas and sweet corn here which are thawed before using. If you are using fresh ones, then boil or steam them for 3-4 minutes before using.)

Directions:

Step 1:
Take lukewarm water, lukewarm warm milk in a large bowl and add sugar to it. Mix well. Add yeast to it and mix gently. Wait for 3-5 minutes till you notice froth on top. This means yeast is activated.

Step 2:
Add flour, salt, garlic powder and mixed herbs seasoning to it. Mix with spatula or hands and knead a soft pliable dough. Add 1 tsp oil and knead for at least 5-7 min while stretching the dough as shown in image.

Step 3:
Apply oil on dough and inside the bowl. Place it in bowl and cover with clingwrap or kitchen cloth. Let the dough rest for 2 to 3 hrs till it doubles up in volume (in winters it takes more time).

Step 4:
While dough is resting, prepare the filling. Heat oil in a pan. Add minced garlic & onions. Sauté for 1 minute. Add carrots, cook for 1 minute and then bell peppers. Cook for 1 more minutes and then add peas & sweet corn. Sauté for 2 to 3 minutes more.

Step 5:
Switch off the flame. Add pizza sauce, ketchup, sriracha (or chilli sauce), mayonnaise, salt and seasoning. Mix well. Taste and adjust salt or seasoning as per your taste. Let the filling cool down completely.

Step 6:
Once the dough doubles up, punch it and divide it in 10 equal sized portions. Roll them into smooth balls.

Step 7:
Take one dough ball and roll it in 5 to 6″ inches circle using a rolling pin. Fold the edges to form a triangle as shown in image. Pinch the corner of this triangle to give proper shape and roll it again 2-3 times.

Step 8:
Place a tablespoon filling in the centre of this triangle along with some shredded cheese. Brush milk on the corners and bring them together to make a parcel. It is important to seal them properly here as otherwise parcels will open up while baking.

Grease the baking tray with melted butter or oil. Keep this parcel on it. Repeat to make such parcels with rest of the balls. While you are working with one dough ball, cover the remaining ones with cloth to prevent from drying.

Step 9:
Cover the parcels with kitchen cloth or cling film and let them rest for 10-15 minutes. In the meantime set the oven for preheating at 200°C (390°F). Once the oven is preheated, remove the cover & brush milk on these parcels.

Step 10:
Bake them for 17-20 minutes at 200°C (390°F). Bring the parcels out of oven and brush them with some melted butter. Let them cool for 3-4 minutes before serving. Serve with ketchup or any dip of your choice.

Tips:

• Kneading the dough for 5-10 minutes helps in gluten formation. The dough may feel sticky in beginning but it will smoothen up gradually.
• Avoid overcooking the vegetables while sautéing as we want to maintain their crunch. Overcooking at this step will turn them mushy.
• It is important to cool down the vegetable filling as otherwise the steam from it can turn the parcels soggy. You can even make this filling a day before in advance and keep in fridge.

• Brushing milk on top helps in getting golden brown colour on top. If you eat eggs, then instead of milk you can brush egg wash on top.
• Please don’t skip preheating the oven as otherwise the texture of bread parcel can turn out dense or crumbly.

Can I make these veggie parcel in advance?

Yes, you can make these cheesy veg parcels in advance and microwave them for 30 to 40 seconds before serving. The leftover parcels can easily be stored in fridge for 2-3 days easily.

More eggless snack recipes:

• Stuffed Cheesy Garlic Bread
• Whole Wheat Crackers
• Lavash Crackers

(Note: The post was originally published on 28 Sep’2018 and has been updated with fresh images and recipe.)

If you try this savory veg parcel recipe & share pics on social media, then don’t forget to tag on Facebook, Instagram or use #kuchpakrahahai.

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