Mushroom & Potato Pie - easy

Ingredients:

1 pack of ready-rolled shortcrust pastry

Or, if you want to make your own pastry:

8 ozs. (225 g) Self-Raising Flour

3.1/2 ozs. (100g)  Butter

4 tbls. cold water and a pinch of salt if using unsalted butter

Chill for ½ hr. before using.

Filling:

About 4 medium sized peeled potatoes – pre-boiled until just cooked through (Maris Piper or Charlotte potatoes are good.)

1 small or ½ medium white part of a leek – washed and thinly sliced

1 small/medium onion – peeled and thinly sliced

4 – 6 large mushrooms (white or chestnut mushrooms are good) - chopped or sliced

Clove of chopped garlic

Salt and Pepper 

Dried Thyme

Saute the leek, onion, garlic and thyme in a little olive or sunflower oil and a knob of butter.

Stirring, fry until just softened – saute the mushrooms separately with a little S&P and some Thyme,
add all to the potatoes and gently mix together, adding a few halved chestnuts if wanted.  (Mushrooms and chestnuts go very well together.)

Taste for seasoning.

Sauce:

About ½ pt. of hot vegetable stock

1 tbls. cornflour

Add the cornflour to a small amount of stock and stir until smooth, then add the rest of the stock.

Simmer this (or microwave it) gently for a few minutes until the sauce becomes a little clearer.  Set aside.

Putting it together:

Butter an ovenproof dish and put your filling in. 

Pour enough of the Sauce over – without making it too ‘icky’ !

Place your pastry over the top and trim of any excess – any extra pastry can be frozen for another pie – or make some decorations for the pie lid.

Brush the pastry lid with beaten egg to give it a lovely golden colour.

Make a small hole in the middle for the steam to escape.

Bake at around 180/190 C until the pastry has turned golden and the mixture is beginning to bubble up.  This shouldn’t take more than about 1/2 hr. as the filling is already cooked.

Serve as a vegetarian meal with baked beans, a salad or veg of your choice.

This pie reheats very well in the micro., and will keep well in the fridge for a few days.

Idea: To make this as a Tart - line your greased tin with the pastry, prick the base with a fork, lay crumpled foil over with something like dried beans on top, and pre-cook for at least 15 mins, put the filling in, then continue cooking until filling is just going golden and is set.