Cheesy leek & potato pie
Barney Desmazery
This pie is made like an extra-large pasty so you don’t need a special tin or ring and uses ready-made pastry for speed. It provides a whole meal inside the one pie.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Serves: 6
Ingredients
140g / 5oz Freedom Food labelled melting cheese,
such as Cheddar, cut into small pieces
3 leeks, sliced into chunks
small knob of butter
pinch dried rosemary or thyme
450g / 1lb potato (1 very large baking potato is perfect), chopped into thick slices
1 Freedom Food labelled egg, beaten
500g pack shortcrust pastry
Method
- Put the leeks in a pan with the butter and herbs cover and cook over a low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very soft.
- While the leeks are cooking, put the potatoes in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 4-5 minutes until just cooked.
- Drain the potatoes and stir into the cooked leeks. Leave to cool, stir in the cheese and season with plenty of pepper and salt if you want.
- Heat oven to 180-200C/400F/Gas Mark 6.
- Divide the pasty in two and roll one of the pieces to the size of a dinner plate. Transfer this to a baking sheet and roll the remaining pastry and any trimmings to a round about 5cm bigger than the first.
- Pile the filling into the middle of the round on the baking sheet, leaving a 4cm border. Brush the border with the beaten egg and drape over the larger piece of pastry. Trim the edges to neaten, then press the sides together with your thumb.
- Brush the tart all over with egg. Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden. Leave to rest for 10 minutes before cutting into wedges.