A vegetarian feast of a pie, from PIE!

To celebrate the end of British Pie Week,  here's another sneaky recipe to share from my upcoming book PIE!, published very soon by Absolute Press. 

This is a big old vegetarian feast of a pie, and possibly my very favourite recipe from the book.

Enjoy!

G

x

Harissa-spiced Borlotti Bean, Squash, Red Pepper and Chard Pie with Goat’s Cheese

This rainbow-coloured pie is magnificent to look at and it’s certainly fit for a vegetarian feast! It’s a pretty simple pie to make, but if there is a trick to be shared, then it is to make sure each distinct layer is really well seasoned and has plenty to offer in the taste department.

I love chard, to my mind the texture of the stalks, in particular, make it far more interesting than spinach, but you can use spinach if you can’t get hold of chard. It’s also a pretty easy vegetable to grow, so if you have a corner free in your garden you might like to give it a go. The bright red stalks and deep green leaves make it a very attractive plant to grow.

Serves 6 (generously) 

Takes 25 minutes to make (plus cooling), 1 3/4 hours to cook

6 tbsp olive oil

50g unsalted butter

2 onions, finely sliced

400g bunch rainbow chard, washed, stalks trimmed and chopped into 3–4cm pieces, and leaves roughly torn

1 large butternut squash (about 1.4kg), halved, deseeded and cut into 1cm-thick slices (I leave the peel on for texture)

2 whole bulbs of garlic

3 red, orange or yellow peppers, deseeded and cut into 3cm pieces

2 tbsp capers, drained and chopped

bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

2–3 tbsp harissa paste

400g can borlotti beans, drained and rinsed

plain flour, for dusting

double batch of Shortcrust Pastry (see page XX)

250g soft rindless goat’s cheese, crumbled

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 egg, beaten, to glaze 

cumin seeds and sea salt flakes, for sprinkling

Pour a tablespoon or so of the oil into a large frying pan, add the butter and set over a low heat. Once the butter has melted, stir in the onions, then cook gently, uncovered, for around 30 minutes or until very soft and lightly coloured, stirring from time to time. Add the chopped chard stalks, then cover and cook gently for a further 10 minutes, before adding the torn chard leaves and packing them down into a snug layer. Cover and let the leaves steam and wilt for about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then set aside to cool completely.

Whilst the onion and chard mixture is cooking, roast the squash and peppers. Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7. Spread the squash out over 1 or 2 large roasting tins and drizzle over a little of the remaining oil. Season well with salt and black pepper and tuck in the garlic bulbs. Put the mixed peppers in another roasting tin and drizzle the remaining oil over them, along with a little grind of salt and black pepper. Put both vegetables in the oven to roast until cooked and lightly coloured in places, around 35–40 minutes. The squash may take a few minutes more than the peppers, which is why they are cooked in separate tins. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely. Once cold, stir the capers and parsley through the peppers. Separate the garlic into cloves and squeeze the soft flesh onto the squash, leaving the cloves as whole as possible.

In a small bowl, stir the harissa paste through the borlotti beans and season with a grind of salt and black pepper. Cover and set aside at room temperature.

Once the vegetables are all cold, preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Set a heavy baking sheet on a shelf in the oven to heat up. Grease and base-line a 23cm springform cake tin with non-stick baking paper and set aside.

On a lightly floured work surface, cut the pastry into two-thirds and one-third, rolling each piece gently into a ball as you do so. Roll out the larger piece into a rough circle, about 4mm thick (the pastry needs to be slightly thicker here as the filling is so robust it needs a sturdy crust to hold it in) and use it to line the prepared springform cake tin, bringing it up the sides of the tin and leaving a little excess hanging over the edge.

To construct the layers, start by adding half of the roast butternut squash in a neatly packed layer at the bottom of the pastry-lined tin. Follow this with the harissa-spiked borlotti beans, spreading them out evenly, then add the roast peppers in an even layer. Next, add the wilted chard and onions mixture in an even layer, followed by the other half of the squash, making sure you level each layer before you add the next. Finally, sprinkle over the goat’s cheese evenly. By now your pie will be full to the brim!

Brush the rim of the pastry with a little cold water to dampen it. Roll out the smaller piece of pastry so it is slightly bigger than the top of the tin and about 4mm thick and lay it over the filling, pressing down firmly and rolling and crimping the edges to seal. Make a couple of slits in the top of the pie to let the steam out. Brush all over with beaten egg and sprinkle over a few cumin seeds and sea salt flakes. 

Carefully slide the tin onto the hot baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 50–55 minutes or until the pastry is cooked through and deep golden brown. 

Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes before sliding a knife around the inside edge of the tin and releasing the springform. Carefully transfer the pie to a serving plate or wooden board. This is a solid pie – I find the best way to get it off the base is to lay a plate over the top of the pie and turn it over quickly so it is upside-down. Peel off the paper and base of the tin before covering with a serving plate and inverting it quickly so it’s now the right way up. Serve hot (it keeps its temperature very well) or warm, cut into thick slices. This pie is packed full of veggies so doesn’t really need anything to accompany it, but a big green leafy salad will add a nice bit of crunch.

Bacon, parsnip & cheese brunch muffins

Here's a recipe for savoury brunch muffins I made last weekend - I suddenly realised the week had been whistling by, I can't believe its Thursday already. As some of you may be dreaming up your weekend breakfast already it seems like an opportune moment to share this. 

Savoury muffins are really easy to knock up and the tasty permutations are endless. These contain bacon and a grated parsnip. I had one lurking in the fridge and thought if you can have a carrot cake, then surely you can have a parsnip muffin. Celery, gently softened in a little butter or oil, would be good too, as would red onion or grated courgette. Add a few chopped herbs, a bit of bacon, chorizo or shredded ham, and some sort of crumbled hard cheese - experiment to your hearts content, just try to keep roughly the same flour to egg and yogurt ratios. 

Bacon, parsnip & cheese brunch muffins

6 rashers smoked streaky bacon, cut in 1cm strips

1 fat parsnip, peeled & coarsely grated

150g plain flour

100g wholemeal plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda 

½ tsp smoked paprika 

130g cheese, crumbled or grated (e.g. cheddar, feta, manchaego)

250g Greek (or other wholemilk) yogurt

2 eggs

4 tbsp olive oil 

Salt  & freshly ground black pepper

12 hole muffin tin, lined with cases

Preheat oven to 180°C

Fry the bacon for a few minutes until crisp but still succulent. Stir through the parsnip, turn off the heat and set aside.

In a large bowl mix together both flours, the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and the smoked paprika. Stir though the bacon and parsnip, and about 100g of the cheese, ensuring it is well mixed.

In a small bowl beat together the yogurt, eggs, olive oil and season with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper. Pour into the large bowl with the dry ingredients and fold through to roughly combine. Don’t worry about a few lumps and bumps, or even little bits of unmixed flour, muffins, savoury and sweet, benefit greatly from a light touch.

Spoon into the muffin cases, sprinkle over the rest of the cheese and bake for about 20 minutes until deeply golden and springy to the touch. 

These are best ate whilst fresh and warm, possibly smeared with a little butter. As a bonus they also freeze really well so you could always make a double batch and freeze half for a later date. To serve, defrost then warm slightly in the oven to bring them back to life.

Sage tagliatelle with roast pumpkin & stilton

This began life, like the majority of my cooking, as a dish imagined in my mind as I pondered my ingredients, the weather, my mood and the occasion…..In this case the evolution of a recipe took place over many months as I watched my pumpkins grow and ripen over the summer. I was planning to make tortellini, little stuffed pasta shapes with a filling of stilton and roasted pumpkin. Indeed that’s what I started making, but as I was began working my pasta dough it stuck me as how dreadfully wasteful it was to cut, roll and shape tortellini. I glanced at the chickens and felt bad about wasting their precious eggs and realised it is simply not right in this day and age to throw out a third of my dough as I trimmed the pasta shapes. So I stopped and had a rethink. This, then, is the deconstructed version and utterly delicious it was too, filling and deeply savoury. 

Whilst I love dried pasta and use it all the time, but the beauty of making your own is the way you can embellish it with herbs, spices and flavourings. I can honestly say it is not something I do very often but it does make a great rainy Saturday afternoon activity that the kids love to get involved in. 

Serves 4, generously

for the pasta:

400g ‘OO’ pasta flour

4 large eggs

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt & freshly ground black pepper 

Sage leaves - a loose handful (about 5g of leaves, no stalks), finely chopped

for the pumpkin:

1 kg pumpkin (or squash) chopped into 1-2cm cubes

1 large red onion, chopped

3 tbsp olive oil 

Sage leaves - a loose handful (about 5g of leaves, no stalks), roughly chopped

6 cloves garlic, whole & unpeeled

350g Stilton, crumbled 

to finish:

60g unsalted butter

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Pasta dough can be made either by hand, in a food processor or the way I tend to do it; in a food mixer with a dough hook. By hand, add the flour to a large bowl, break in the eggs and add the remaining ingredients.  Mix together with a wooden spoon until you have a rough dough, then tip onto the work surface and knead for a few minutes until it is smooth and elastic. 

If using a processor simply add all the ingredients to a bowl and pulse until you have a rough dough, then tip onto the worktop and knead.  In a food mixer, you add all the ingredients and let the dough hook do the mixing and kneading for you.  Whichever way you make it it is important to let the dough rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before you roll it as this allows it to relax and become more workable. It will keep happily, well wrapped, in the fridge for a couple of days if you want to make it in advance.

The easiest way to roll your pasta is to use a pasta machine. Cut the dough into quarters and feed each piece through the rollers, reducing the setting on the machine to roll it thinner and thinner. Once you have a thin sheet, cover it loosely with cling film and continue with the other pieces. You can also shape your dough into sheets with a rolling pin and a bit of elbow grease. Cut the sheets into tagliatelle, either rustically by hand, or as I did by using ribbon cutter on my machine. Hang the ribbons over a coat hook and leave to dry a little while you cook the pumpkin.

In a large roasting tin toss the the pumpkin (or squash) and red onion in the olive oil and season generously with freshly ground black pepper and a little salt.  Stir through the sage, tuck in the cloves of garlic and roast at 180°C for around 25 minutes until the pumpkin is tender and caramelizing at the edges. 

Turn off the oven, fish out the garlic cloves and set aside. Sprinkle the crumbled stilton over the roast vegetables and return to the oven so the cheese gently melts whilst you 
cook the pasta and and make the butter sauce. 

Set a large pan of salted water to boil for the cooking the pasta. Once it is vigorously boiling lower in the tagliatelle and cook until al dente - around 3-4 minutes. Drain and return the pan.

To make the sauce, add the butter to a small heavy based frying pan and melt. Allow it to bubble over a medium heat for a couple of minutes until it has turned a nutty golden brown, taking care it doesn’t burn. Remove from the heat. Peel the roast garlic and squidge to a puree with the flat of a knife and mix into the butter. Pour over the pasta and toss until it is coated all over.

Serve the pasta in wide bowls topped with the squash and melted stilton and stir though as you eat. 

Cheese & tomato scrambled egg - a hearty breakfast for a hungry day

I am not normally a breakfast person, my only true necessity being a bucket of strong coffee to get me going first thing. In contrast my husband, Rob, can devour 4 weetabix in a single (and indeed brief) sitting, a fact I have never quite got my head around. But just occasionally I feel ravenous in the morning. Today proceeded in its usual chaotic, flying by the seat of my pants fashion - two kids fed & watered, two packed lunches, a bit of shouting to get a move on, cleaning up after the not-quite-toilet-trained puppy - and once I returned home from the school run I found my thoughts greedily turning to food. I found inspiration from the bowl of shiny super ripe pomodorino tomatoes sitting on the worktop. Its such a perfect time of year for tomatoes, ripened sweetly over a long period of time I think they are at their most delicious in September. Rather guiltily I whipped myself up a breakfast of cheese and tomato scrambled eggs and quickly ate them with a thick slice of toasted rye bread. And I have to say it absolutely hit the spot and kept me going for hours in a way that a bowl of cereal never could. I shall eat eggs for breakfast more often.

Serves 1 (could be be easily scaled up to feed more)

Knob of unsalted butter

5 ripe Pomodorino tomatoes (cherry or baby plum would be good too), sliced in half

2 eggs, lightly beaten, seasoned generously with salt & freshly ground black pepper

Small wedge of mature cheddar (about 40g) grated

a thick slice of toast - ideally wholemeal, granary or rye 

Melt the butter gently in a small heavy based saucepan and sauté the tomatoes for a minute or two until they just begin to soften. Pour in the seasoned egg and add the grated cheese and continue to cook, stirring from time to time, until they are creamy and just set. Eat immediately - so hungry was I that I devoured them standing at the kitchen counter.

Cheddar & wholegrain mustard croquetas

These croquetas started out as a germ of an idea for the next supperclub, planned as a luscious early autumn feast of fruit, cheese and meat. I adore the Spanish Jamon Croquetas and wanted to try and create an anglicized version. Anything crisply fried and deeply savoury is a big hit in my book. In anticipation of testing the recipe I treated myself to a shiny new deep fat fryer, something I have been toying with getting for ages. Now there really is no excuse for not trying Heston’s infamous triple cooked chip. It may well be steak & chips Friday in our house tomorrow. But in the meantime, the croquetas, I’m pleased to report, worked like a dream. Rich and super cheesy thanks to Keen’s marvelous extra strong cheddar, and packed with plenty of mustard punch. Just what I imagined them to be like in my edible daydreams. What a treat you have in store supper-clubbers! And if you can’t make it, do try the recipe and let me know what you think.

You'll need:

800ml milk

1 small onion, peeled & cut into quarters

1tsp whole black peppercorns

2 sprigs rosemary to infuse in milk

100g butter

150g plain flour

200g extra mature cheddar (I used Keen’s Extra Mature), grated

2 tbsp wholegrain mustard

200g fine dried breadcrumbs

2 eggs, beaten 

Vegetable oil for deep frying

What to do:

In a heavy based plan, bring the milk up to boil along with the onion, peppercorns and rosemary.  Reduce the heat to as low as possible and simmer gently for 15 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse.

In a clean saucepan, melt the butter, then add the flour and stir together to form a roux. Strain the milk and pour onto the roux and whisk until combined. Cook until thickened, stirring all the time to prevent lumps or sticking. You will end up with a rather unappetizing thick and gloopy white sauce - have faith. Add the cheese and mustard mix throughly until combined, scrape into a flat dish and spread out to cool, pressing down a layer of cling film to prevent a skin forming. Once cool, chill in the fridge for an hour or two to firm up.

When you are ready to begin shaping the croquetas, set yourself up a production line with the beaten egg in a small bowl and the breadcrumbs on a large plate. Take a generous dessertspoonful of the chilled mixture and shape into a little rugby ball. I found it easiest to do this with a combination of the scoop of the spoon and the palm of my hand. Drop gently into the egg then lift out and roll in the breadcrumbs until coated all over. Transfer to a clean plate. Repeat with the remaining mixture then chill again for at least 30 minutes. They will rest quite happily in the fridge for 24 hours making it a good fiddly job to do ahead of time. 

To cook, heat a deep fat fryer to 180°C and fry in batches for 3 minutes until crisp and golden. Drain on kitchen paper. Alternatively heat a litre of oil in a large saucepan. When a cube of bread dropped in takes 60 seconds to turn a deep golden brown the oil is hot enough to cook. Cook in batches, taking care not to overcrowd the pan as this will result in a dramatic drop in temperature.

These croquetas are really rich and great served with something a little crisp and sharp, like a watercress salad. 

As an added bonus, the croquetas, shaped and rolled, freeze really well. Cooked from frozen - they will take a little extra time to fry - they make a gorgeous & indulgent quick supper. Lovely with a glass of chilled dry sherry, or even an icy cold beer straight from the fridge.

Makes 28-30, enough for 4-6 generous helpings.

Lemon Cheesecake with raspberries

I adore a proper homemade cheesecake, its creamy velvety texture a true indulgence on so many levels. You need time and patience for the baking and the chilling, and your wallet need not be too slight either, with all that cheese, cream and fresh fruit this is far from the cheap through-it-together cakes I make on a more regular basis. And as for what the ‘health police’ would have to say….. But what a glorious treat it is and once in a while a true pleasure both to make and to eat.  Sometimes, to coin a phrase, you are worth it. And so are your loved ones. On this occasion I was inspired by the glut of cheap raspberries in the shops at the moment, but any seasonal fruit would be lovely, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries - whatever feels right. 

As a small aside, I used the leftover lemon, cut in half, to shove inside a chicken I was roasting that evening - the best strategy I know for ensuring a fragrant and moist bird. Whilst I have no plans to give up eating chicken, watching the hens up the garden as I do this gives me a new level of respect for these gorgeous feathery creatures.

A note on the tin: I normally make a cheesecake in a round spring form tin, as is the norm. But on this occasion I chose a rectangular loaf tin, simply because I fancied the idea of cutting a neat square slice rather than a wedge and I’m happy to report it worked well. But do use a more traditional round tin if you prefer.

For the biscuit base

175g digestive biscuits

45g butter, melted

For the cheesecake:

600g full fat cream cheese

125g full fat creme fraiche

2 large eggs, plus 1 yolk 

150g caster sugar

Finely grated zest 1 lemon

Raspberry topping:

300g fresh raspberries

1tbsp icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Then prepare your tin - either a 25cm diameter springform tin or a long loaf tin of about 30cm. Line the base with baking parchment, and butter well on the sides. With my loaf tin I cut a long strip that came up the sides to help lift the cake out.

Whizz the biscuits in a food processor until they form fine crumbs, then pour in the melted butter and pulse until thoroughly mixed. Tip into the prepared tin and press down firmly with the back of a metal spoon. Chill in the fridge for a few minutes whilst you make the topping.

In a clean food processor, or in a bowl with a wooden spoon, beat together the cream cheese, cream fraiche, eggs and egg yolk. When they are really smooth stir in the sugar and lemon zest. 

Take the tin out of the fridge and wrap the base and sides in a double layer of foil then lower into a large roasting tray. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the biscuit base and level a little with the flat of a knife. Add enough boiling water to the roasting tray so it comes just over halfway up the side of the cheesecake tin. Cooking in a water bath creates a more gentle and nurturing heat, resulting in a really smooth textured cheesecake. If you are going to the trouble of making a cheesecake I think this extra step has got to be worth it.

Carefully transfer the roasting tin to the oven and cook for 45 minutes. Then turn off the oven and let it cool, with the door shut, for 30 minutes. Lift it out of the roasting tray, unwrap the foil and place the tin on a cooling rack. When it has reached room temperature transfer to the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours, a little longer if possible. 

Slide a knife round the tin to loosen the edges and ease out the cake. Transfer to a serving plate and scatter with about two thirds of the raspberries. Puree the remaining raspberries with a little icing sugar to make a quick coulis and drizzle over the top.