Humble pie
Mary Berry has taken humble ingredients and elevated them to create this hearty vegetarian cheesy pie topped with golden puff pastry that feels like a real treat.
Equipment and preparation: You will need a fairly deep 28cm/11in diameter dish or 3-pint dish.
Ingredients
For the vegetable filling
- 1 large cauliflower
- 2 leeks, trimmed and cut into 2cm/¾in slices
- knob of butter
- 200g/7oz button mushrooms, halved
- 115g/4oz frozen petits pois
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the cheese sauce
- 55g/2oz butter
- 55g/2oz plain flour
- 450ml/¾ pint hot milk
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 115g/4oz mature cheddar, coarsely grated
- 55g/2oz Parmesan, coarsely grated (or alternative vegetarian hard cheese)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
To assemble
- 375g ready-rolled puff pastry
- 1 free-range egg, beaten
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
Break the cauliflower into fairly small, even-sized florets. Some of the smaller leaves can be chopped into pieces.
To make the vegetable filling, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the leeks and boil for 4 minutes. Add the cauliflower florets and leaves, and bring back to the boil for 3 minutes until just tender. Drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking. Drain well and set aside.
To make the cheese sauce, melt the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Sprinkle in the flour and stir for 1 minute. Gradually add the hot milk, whisking until thickened. Stir in the mustard, cheddar and Parmesan, then season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Leave to cool for 5 minutes.
To finish the vegetable filling, heat the knob of butter over a high heat. Add the mushrooms and pan-fry for 3 minutes until golden. Season with salt and pepper, then set aside to cool. Add all the cold vegetables and frozen peas to the cheese sauce, stir and check the seasoning. Spoon into the pie dish.
Unroll the pastry and cut a 7cm/2¾in strip from the short side and chill this in the fridge. Roll out the remaining pastry to slightly bigger than the top of your pie dish. Brush beaten egg around the edge of the dish, then place the pastry on top and press down on the edges to seal. Trim any excess pastry with a sharp knife and make a small slit in the centre for the steam to escape. Brush the top with beaten egg.
Roll out the reserved strip of pastry to be a bit thinner, then roll it up tightly. Using a sharp knife, slice to make long thin strips. Unravel and dip them into the egg wash, then arrange on top of the pie, in a random pattern. Bake for about 40–45 minutes, until the pastry is golden and the sauce is bubbling around the edges.
Recipe Tips
The pie can be made, left unglazed and kept covered in the fridge for up to 24 hours ahead.
Not suitable for freezing.
