Vegetarian Cheese and Leek Pie
Cheese and leek pie is one of those warming comfort foods that we all look forward to on cold winter days. There are many variations on this recipe and they all make ideal family meals – vegetarian or otherwise.
Recipe
Ingredients (Serves 4 to 6)- Six leeks trimmed and washed and cut into one inch pieces
- One Spanish onion peeled and chopped
- 500g potatoes peeled and cut into even sized pieces
- 500g grated strong cheddar cheese
- One small carton of double cream
- Three tablespoons of butter
- Six eggs
- One pack of puff pastry
- Salt and pepper to season
- Egg wash
To Prepare
Heat the oven to 210ºC or gas mark 7.
Drop the six eggs into boiling salted water and cook for five minutes until hard. Drain and put to one side to cool.Place the potatoes into a pan of boiling salt water and cook until tender. Drain and mash with one tablespoon of the butter. Add the grated cheese. Place into an oven proof dish.
Heat two tablespoons of the butter and fry the onion until slightly soft. Add the leeks and continue to cook until the leeks are soft but not broken. Season with the salt and pepper.
Layer this mix on top of the mashed potato.
Next take the cooled eggs, remove shells and slice evenly. Layer the eggs over the onion and leeks in the oven proof dish.Pour the carton of double cream over the eggs.
Roll out the puff pastry until it is slightly larger than the oven proof dish. Lay the pastry over the oven proof dish and trim the edges of the pastry. Using two fingers seal the pastry to the edges of the dish. Pierce two holes in the middle of the pastry and brush over the egg wash.
Place in the middle of the oven for thirty minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and flaky.
Serve while still piping hot.
