We always have pack of emergency puff pastry in freezer and the rest of this can generally be rustled up from the contents of the veg box and the fridge.
Feel free to play around - use any odds and ends of cheese you can find; swap out the onions for those limp leeks that have seen perkier days; if you haven't got any potatoes, try celeriac or squash or forego the root veg altogether and use a couple of handfuls of breadcrumbs.
Apparently we have fairies in the bottom of our garden and we express our appreciation of their presence by using the trimmings of their thyme hedge to flavour our pies - hedge clippings never tasted so good.
None of these measures are crucial, just guidelines.
1 pack puff pastry, we use JusRol all butter puff pastry
3 medium potatoes, peeled
3 onions, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tblsp spoon oil
25g butter
6 sprigs fresh thyme (or a teaspoon of dried thyme if you don't have fresh
270g cheese, I used a mature Cheddar, but use up whatever you can find in the fridge
1 egg, beaten
Mustard (optional)
Slice the potatoes to the thickness of around ¼" (½ cm) and boil until just cooked - be careful that you don't end up with a pan full of potato soup!
Drain and set aside to cool.
Heat the oven to 200ºC
Put the oil and butter into a frying pan and heat gently until the butter foams. Chuck in the sliced onions and thyme. Cook for 20 - 30 minutes over a low heat until meltingly soft and starting to caramelise.
Grate the cheese.
Now it is simply an assembly job.
Roll out just under half of the pastry, mine was a 9" x 7" rectangle, but squares or circles are equally acceptable, and lay it on a baking sheet.
If you fancy, apply a thin spreading of mustard, Dijon or grain, to the pastry.
Then start with the potatoes, the onions and finally the cheese, spreading each layer evenly over the pastry leaving a half inch (1¼cm rim) around the edge).
Roll out the rest of the pastry slightly bigger than the bottom piece (it needs to cover the filling).
Brush the edges of the base with beaten egg and then lay the second sheet of pastry over the top. Crimp the edges to make sure they are sealed.
Brush the top with beaten egg and place in the oven.
Cook for around 20 - 25 minutes until golden brown.
Serve immediately, but do be careful, the insides are like molten lava!!
We enjoyed this one with chilli dusted sweet potato wedges and red, yellow and green peppers cooked in a rich tomato sauce.
Serves 6 -8 people, depending on hunger levels and what you serve on the side.
Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2020 ©
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