It's National Pie week - where veggies and carnivores can unite in their mutual love of pastry.
Whether it's a beef or chicken pie with mushrooms, a classic raspberry meringue sweetness or the veggie option with cheese and beans, Great British Chefs have recipes to please the beast in all of us.
Dig in!
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Chicken and Mushroom Pie With Cheddar Shortcrust Pastry (serves 4)
Nathan Outlaw
Cooking time: 50 minutes
Cheddar cheese pastry
120g of plain flour
1 pinch of salt
30g of butter, chilled
30g of lard
60g of Davidstow cheddar cheese, finely grated
1 egg, beaten
Chicken and mushroom pie filling
2 tbsp of olive oil
3 boneless and skinless chicken breasts, cubed
150g of button mushrooms, quartered
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
50g of butter
2 tbsp of plain flour, plus more for dusting
300ml of milk
200ml of Knorr Chicken stock
white pepper to season, freshly ground
salt to season
2 tbsp of chopped chives
2 tbsp of chopped parsley
1 egg, beaten
- Begin by making the cheddar pastry. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl, dice the butter and lard separately, before rubbing into the flour mix with your fingertips. Continue until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Mix in the grated cheese, as well as adding enough of the beaten egg to bind the mix together to make a firm dough. Gently knead the dough before wrapping in in cling film and chilling it until needed.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6
- In a frying pan, heat the oil before adding the chicken. Cook until the chicken turns white. Then add the mushrooms before continuing to fry until the chicken turns a golden-brown colour and the mushrooms have released all their moisture. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Using the same pan, add a tad more oil and sweat the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes until softened. Remove from the heat and set aside with the chicken and mushrooms.
- In a saucepan melt the butter, stir in the flour and cook for approximately 3 minutes. Stir constantly until a thick smooth paste is formed.
- In a bowl mix together the stock, milk, white pepper and salt. Slowly pour into the flour mix, whisking constantly over a medium heat until smooth. Reduce the heat and simmer, continually stirring until the sauce has thickened. This should take approximately 5 minutes.
- Stir in the parsley and chives, before pouring the sauce over the chicken and mushroom mix. Stir well, before spooning the mix into the pie dish and leaving to cool completely.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out your cheese pastry dough to a thickness of around 3mm (the thickness of a pound coin). With a beaten egg, brush the edges of the pie dish, and lay the pastry over the top. Press down the edges and trim any overhang. Brush the top of the pastry too with beaten egg.
- Make two slits in the top of the pie. This will allow steam to escape when the pie is cooking. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the pie turns golden. Remove and serve.
Raspberry Meringue Pies (serves 4)
Paul Ainsworth
Cooking time: 1 hour plus chilling time
Raspberry filling:
6 bronze gelatine leaves
6 egg yolks
3 eggs
120g of caster sugar
400g of raspberry purée
150g of butter, diced
Tart cases:
100g of butter, clarified and melted
1 pack filo pastry sheet
icing sugar for dusting
Meringue:
3 egg whites
1/2 lemon, juiced
150g of caster sugar
- For the raspberry filling, place the gelatine leaves in cold water and leave to soak until floppy. Then whisk together the sugar and eggs.
- Over a bain-marie, add the raspberry purée to the mixture and whisk until it takes on a thick consistency. Add the butter, whisk together and cook again until thick.
- To the mixture add the gelatine leaves and pour through a fine sieve into a tray.
- To avoid a skin forming on top, cover with cling film and leave to rest in the fridge until cool. Once cool, using a spoon put into a piping bag.
- Heat the oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4 in preparation for the tart cases. Cut the filo into squares marginally bigger than the moulds being used.
- Using the clarified butter, brush each filo pastry sheet one by one before placing a buttered square into the mould and pressing down.
- Repeat this process 4 times. Turn each sheet in the mould to form a star shape.
- After dusting each mould lightly with icing sugar, bake in the over for approximately 3-4 minutes until golden brown in appearance. Leave to cool on a rack.
- For the meringue top, whisk together the egg whites and lemon juice in a clean bowl until the volume has double and it forms a stiff peak.
- Allow the whisk to continue running whilst adding the sugar to the mixture one tablespoon at a time. Continue to whisk until the whites are glossy in appearance. Using a piping bag with a star nozzle, add the meringue to the bag.
- To plate up, first pipe the raspberry curd into each tart and then add the piped meringue on top. Using a blow torch caramelise the tops.
Braised Beef In Bitter Beer, With Mushrooms and Green Peppercorn Pie (serves 6)
Paul Heathcote
Cooking time: 2 hours
Braised bitter beer beef:
1.2kg of braising beef, chopped into 200g slices
sea salt to season
1 dash of vegetable oil
6 carrots, peeled
3 small onions, cut into halves
1 garlic clove
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of fresh thyme
10g of sugar
125ml of bottle of red wine
75ml of red wine vinegar
200ml of bitter beer
1.14l of Beef stock
1 tsp of cornflour
1 dash of gravy browning
1 handful of chives, chopped
Mushroom pies:
24 button mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 shallot, finely diced
1 dash of vegetable oil
25g of butter
25g of plain flour
600ml of milk, hot
1 bay leaf
25g of green peppercorns
2 handfuls of parsley
sea salt to season
12 puff pastry, cut circles
1 egg
- To make the braised beef, season with salt and brown the beef in oil in a pan until golden brown all over.
- Add the halved onions and peeled carrots to the pan.
- Add the sugar and allow the beef and vegetables to caramelise.
- Take the meat and vegetables out of the pan and deglaze the pan with the red wine vinegar followed by red wine.
- Put the meat, vegetables and sprig of thyme back into the pan. Add the bitter beer next, bring the liquid to the boil before adding the stock. Cook this for about 1 ¾ hours at 160°C until very tender.
- Take the beef, carrots and onions out carefully and set aside. Pass the remaining liquid through a sieve and boil in a pan until it reaches a sauce consistency. If necessary, add a few drops of corn flour to thicken, or gravy browning to colour.
- To make the pie, fry off the button mushrooms in a few drops of oil until golden.
- Add the shallots and stir for about 15 seconds until golden, then remove from the heat and scrape onto a plate. Set aside.
- In a thick bottomed pan add the butter and leave to melt. Stir in the flour and make a roux base.
- On a low heat, add the hot milk (making sure the bay leaf has been removed) incrementally, and stir in well each time.
- Once all the milk has been incorporated, add the peppercorns, parsley and mushrooms and season with sea salt. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- Pour the mix into small pie dishes, place the puff pastry on top and make a small hole. Brush the pastry with egg wash and heat in an oven set to 160°C/gas mark 3 for 15 minutes.
- Serve the beef with the onions and carrots, a little of the beer sauce and accompany with the mushroom pie. Garnish with a handful of chives.
(Veggie) Cheesy Beany Pies (serves 8)
Dominic Chapman
Cooking time: 1 hour 20 minutes plus cooling time
Baked beans:
800g haricot beans, tinned
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
1 pinch brown sugar
1 dash malt vinegar
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
1 dash olive oil
1 pinch salt
1 pinch pepper
Filo topping:
500g filo pastry
20g butter, melted
Cheesy filling
500g cottage cheese
300g feta
3 eggs
15g dill
1 onion, finely chopped
1 pinch salt
1 pinch pepper
- Begin preparing your baked beans by warming a dash of olive oil in a heavy-based pan over a medium heat. When the oil becomes hot add the chopped onion and cook for around 5 minutes, or until soft.
- Crush the garlic cloves and add to the onions; cook through for a further 2 minutes. Add the celery and carrots and continue to cook until tender (around 10-15 minutes).
- Next add the malt vinegar, brown sugar and tinned tomatoes and stir well. Drain the haricot beans and add to the pan with 100ml of water, simmer for 5-10 minutes to allow the sauce to reduce slightly.
- Take off the heat and season with salt and pepper. Leave to stand until completely cool and place in an airtight container (this will keep for up to 3 days).
- Create the pies by brushing 1 sheet of the filo pastry with melted butter and laying another sheet on top. Brush the second layer with butter and add another sheet. This will give you a triple-layered sheet of filo. This is a great step for the kids to get involved in, as they can easily brush and layer the pastry.
- Cut the layered sheet into 4 even rectangles and leave to one side. In order to stop your filo rectangles from becoming dry, keep them under a damp tea towel.
- Repeat steps 5 and 6 to make another 4 rectangles. This will give you 8 rectangles in all.
- Preheat your oven to 190˚C/gas mark 5.
- Next, prepare the cheese filling by adding the cottage cheese and feta to a large bowl. Beat the eggs – this is a great step for kids to do, as it is a key kitchen skill to learn. Then stir the beaten eggs into the bowl of cheese.
- Finish the filling by mixing in the dill and chopped onion. Season with salt and pepper and leave to the side.
- Lay out your pie dishes and line each one with a filo rectangle, allowing the excess pastry to hang over the edges. Add 5 tablespoons of the baked beans, and then top up with the cheese mixture until the filling reaches just below the top of the dish.
- Gently fold in the overhanging edges of pastry and brush with melted butter to seal. With a knife, score a criss-cross pattern on top, being careful not to cut all the way through the pastry.
- Place the dishes into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the filling is piping hot and the top of the pastry is golden brown. Serve right away.