Hello, dear pandas. I really missed you! As a mum, photographer, and freelancer, autumn is already the busiest season of my life. While everyone’s outside picking mushrooms and sipping pumpkin lattes (you can tell I’m jealous, haha), I’m inside shooting Christmas cookies in October. I’m lighting up fairy lights when it’s +20°C outside, sprinkling fake snow on cakes while my kid asks if Santa is already coming.
It feels like autumn in France barely happened this year. One moment I was out in a light jacket, admiring golden leaves, and the next — boom — Christmas trees, advent calendars, and fake snow everywhere. The shops suddenly smelled like cinnamon and capitalism, and I stood there genuinely wondering: "Did I blink and miss October?"
So, if you also feel like someone stole autumn where you live, here’s how to steal it back.
More info: Instagram | irinatisserandstudio.com
While everyone stepped into autumn, I stepped into Christmas-season work
Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. I’m incredibly lucky to have turned creativity into work. But sometimes I feel like I’m missing the small, ordinary things that make the season beautiful. I crave the slow moments: watching leaves fall, drinking tea without checking emails, reading a book just because it smells good. But most of the time, I’m just scrolling through deadlines and battery levels.
This autumn felt even louder than usual. Between motherhood, photoshoots, editing, and life in general, I barely noticed the season changing, and suddenly, it was gone. Maybe that’s why I felt this deep need to make something just for myself — no clients, no brand brief, no timeline. Something warm, simple, and grounding. So I turned off my laptop, put my phone away (highly recommend it), and made a pie.
This Butternut and Lentil Pot Pie is earthy, cozy, and full of flavor, a real, old-fashioned, soul-healing, “it’s still autumn in my kitchen” kind of pie
This creamy filling together with garlic and spices will instantly fill the kitchen with that unmistakable autumn smell
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: ~30 hr
Total time: ~50 min
Cook time: ~30 hr
Total time: ~50 min
Ingredients you need for this recipe
For the filling:
- 3 ½ tbsp unsalted butter (50 g)
- 1–2 onions, finely sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 large celery sticks, diced
- 2–3 small carrots, diced
- 3–4 cups cubed butternut squash (½–1 small squash) (about 400–600 g)
- ⅓ cup flour (40 g)
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp white or black pepper
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 2 cups vegetable stock (450 ml)
- ⅔ cup heavy cream (160 ml)
- 1 cup cooked lentils (150 g)
- 1 beaten egg (for brushing)
For the homemade crust:
- 3 ⅔ cups flour (450 g)
- ⅔ cup olive oil (150 ml)
- ¼ cup cold water (60 ml)
- 1 tsp salt
The warmest part of the recipe - a crust made by hand, ready to hold all the cozy flavors inside
8 steps to bring this cozy pot pie to life
- Get ready: Preheat your oven to 220°C (425°F). Butter and flour a 22 cm pie dish.
- Make the crust: Mix the flour and salt. Add the olive oil and cold water. Combine until a smooth dough forms, divide into two balls, and chill for 15 minutes.
- Sauté the vegetables: Melt butter in a large skillet. Add onion, carrots, celery, and butternut squash. Cook for about 10 minutes, until lightly golden and tender.
- Add garlic & spices: Stir in the garlic, then add the flour, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and thyme.
- Make the sauce: Gradually pour in the vegetable stock and cream, stirring until the mixture thickens (about 10 minutes). Add the cooked lentils.
- Line the dish: Roll out one dough ball into a 30 cm circle and line your pie dish.
- Fill & cover: Pour the filling in. Cover with the second dough circle, trim the edges, and seal. Cut small slits on top to let steam escape.
- Bake to perfection: Brush with the beaten egg and bake for about 30 minutes, until beautifully golden. If it browns too quickly, cover loosely with foil.
The simplest touch, like shaping tiny leaves, makes the crust feel extra special
Autumn, for me, is always a gentle reminder to slow down
Autumn has a way of inviting us to be more present. Even in the middle of deadlines and motherhood, I try to remind myself that slowing down doesn’t mean doing nothing — it simply means reconnecting with small, grounding rituals.
When I took the pie out of the oven, the whole kitchen filled with a buttery, nutty, comforting smell. And for the first time in weeks, I wasn’t thinking about work or emails or deadlines. I just stood there, eating a spoonful straight from the dish, feeling grateful that autumn still exists, even if only inside my kitchen.
So maybe autumn wasn’t stolen at all. Maybe we just forgot to notice it.
Once the pie comes out of the oven, the smell fills the entire kitchen - buttery, nutty and so comforting
Tasting autumn’s return, one cozy spoonful at a time
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