An excellent pie is a marvellous factor: an all-in-one bundle with a flaky exterior and a superbly seasoned filling, as sustaining as it’s scrumptious. I prefer to make my very own pie crust, however I typically cheat with the filling. Right here, I’ve used cheese, diced potatoes and loads of softened leeks to bind the filling, avoiding any must make a conventional roux. Simply preserve the pastry components chilly when mixing and relaxation the pie earlier than baking – the important thing to an excellent crust.

Leek, tarragon and Ticklemore pie

These components really feel made for one another, with the salty, creamy, tangy acidity of the goat’s cheese an amazing counterbalance to the candy sauteed leeks.

Prep 20 min

Chill 35 min

Cook dinner 1 hr 20 min

Serves 8-10

60g salted butter

2 medium leeks (about 400g), thinly sliced

1 giant onion, thinly sliced

Salt and black pepper

½ a nutmeg, grated

350g potatoes, minimize into 2cm cubes

250ml double cream

1 heaped tbsp dijon mustard

A small handful chopped tarragon

180g laborious goat’s or sheep’s’ cheese, akin to Ticklemore or pecorino, roughly grated

For the pastry

400g spelt flour (I like a mixture of 280g white spelt and 120g wholemeal spelt or kamut flour)

250g very chilly butter, roughly diced

2 tbsp chopped contemporary thyme, 1 tbsp for the pastry, the opposite for the filling

Milk or egg, for laundry

For the pastry, tip the flours right into a meals processor and blitz for just a few seconds. Add the butter and half the thyme, and pulse briefly till you will have a rough crumb. Add six tablespoons of ice-cold water, and one or two further, if want be, to carry the dough collectively right into a tough ball (the quantity of water required will depend on the kind of flour you employ). Put inside a plastic bag, work the dough right into a flat disc, then chill for half an hour.

For the filling, soften the butter in a large saucepan on a medium-high warmth. Add the leeks and onion, season generously with salt, pepper and the nutmeg, and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the remaining thyme, cowl, decrease the warmth and prepare dinner for quarter-hour, till the leeks and onions are tender.

In the meantime, steam the potato cubes for eight minutes, till tender. Stir these into the leeks, add the cream, mustard and tarragon, then season to style.

Butter and line the underside of a 25cm quiche or cake tin with a free base. Break off two-thirds of the dough and put the remaining third again within the fridge in its bag. Flour a board and roll out the bigger piece of dough right into a 2-3mm-thick disc that’s extensive sufficient to return up the perimeters of the pie dish. Lay it within the pie dish, urgent it in gently, then scatter in a 3rd of the cheese. Layer over half the cooled leek filling, adopted by extra cheese, the remainder of the leeks and a last scattering of cheese, then put within the fridge. Roll out the remaining dough to make the highest. Use any pastry offcuts to make some petals for adornment, or another form, moist the perimeters of the lid and lay it on prime of the pie to seal it to the pie dough base. Use a fork or your fingers to crimp across the edge, make a slit within the centre for steam to flee, and brush with milk or somewhat egg wash.

Refrigerate for 20 minutes whilst you warmth the oven to 210C (190C fan)/410F/fuel 6½. When sizzling, bake the pie for 40-45 minutes, till golden on prime. Depart to relaxation for 10 minutes, then prove on to a plate and serve with a inexperienced salad.