pastry

If there was ever an excuse to eat pies, then surely this is it. It’s British Pie Week everyone, hip hip hooray! I have to confess, I’ve never actually made a pie before, it always seemed like more trouble than it’s worth but armed with a packet of puff pastry, these mini pies were a piece of cake… I mean pie.
Anyway, you can make one big pie or a few little pies, I opted for mini ones this time so I could use my cute mini casserole dishes. I actually made my pie filling a few days earlier and kept it in the fridge so that when it came to assembling my pies, all I had to do was fill my dishes and top with pastry. I was pretty stunned at how well these turned out, they were super cute and utterly delicious. Jamie loved his little pie so it’s a shame he won’t get to eat one ever again. We discovered shortly after he ate his pie that he has a rather severe onion intolerance, so no more pies for Jamie.
But pies for everyone else, yay!

Shallot & mushroom pies
Makes 4 small or 1 large pie / hands on time 40 mins / total time 1hr 10mins / V
250g chestnut mushrooms, roughly sliced
250g portobello mushrooms, roughly sliced
30g unsalted butter
400g banana shallots, peeled (I use banana shallots as they tend to be bigger and less tricky to peel)
1 sprig of rosemary
2 bay leaves
200ml veg stock, I use 1 Knorr vegetable stock pot
200ml vegetarain red wine
1 tbs plain flour
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp Marmite (optional)
Handful chopped parsley
375g ready rolled puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
Mini heart pastry cutter (optional)

TIP: Not keen on pastry? Try topped with mash. Simply boil up 800g floury potatoes, drain and mash with a big knob of butter and a splash of milk. Top the pie filling and bake in the oven as recipe specifies.

Method
1. Preheat oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400F/gas mark 6. Meanwhile, trim the ends and peel the shallots by scoring with a knife and removing the outer layer of skin. Add the whole, peeled shallots to a large heavy bottomed pot along with the butter. Cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes.
2. Roughly chop the mushrooms and add them to the pot and give it a good stir. Cover with a lid and cook for a further 5 minutes. Remove the lid and add the stock, wine, bay leaves, rosemary and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat slightly and allow the mixture to reduce for 20-25 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a separate small saucepan, melt a tablespoon of butter and whisk in a heaped tablespoon of flour. Once combined, stir straight into the mushroom filling to help thicken the sauce (you don’t need to wait 20 minutes to add this).
4. Once reduced, add the Marmite (if using), dijon mustard and the fresh parsley and season well with salt and pepper. Carefully fish out the rosemary and bay leaves and fill your pie dishes with the mixture. Top with pieces of puff pastry a little bigger than the pie dishes themselves. Crimp the pastry around the edge with your fingers or with the back of a fork (don’t worry if your pies look a bit flat and messy, they’ll look wonderful once they’re cooked). Insert a knife into the middle of your pies to allow air to escape. I like to do a cross because it’s prettier.
5. Cut the remaining pastry into heart shapes using a cutter and place them on top of the pies or make your own shapes (optional). Brush each pie with beaten egg and bake in an oven, on the middle shelf for 20-25 minutes.
6. Serve with steam vegetables and mash. Good times.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.