I
said previously I was a potato girl. What follows is, without doubt,
the best potato dish I've ever used – Homity Pie.
The
pie is thought to have appeared during WWII probably invented by the
Land Girls using what little ingredients they had around. I first
came across it years ago in Denby, Derbyshire where the pottery of
the same name is still going - it has a great café where they still
serve it. Check out www.denbyvisitorcentre.co.uk. (To avoid
disappointment, if you intend to visit call ahead if you want to
sample Homity Pie – they don't serve it every day). Eventually I
plucked up the courage and phoned the café and asked how they made
it – here's my take.
Homity
Pie
Pastry
case
200g/8oz
plain wholemeal flour
100g/4oz
unsalted butter
pinch
of baking powder
cold
water to bind
Filling
6
large jacket potatoes, cooked, peeled and diced
1lb
onions
3
tbsp rapeseed oil
5
tbsp chopped flatleaf parsley
(3
for the filling, 2 for the topping)
300g/12oz
grated cheese – 200g/8oz mature cheddar, 100g4oz Gruyere mixed
(200g/8oz
cheese for filling, 100g/4oz for the topping)
3
cloves of garlic, crushed (or garlic paste)
Salt
and black pepper
For
the pastry case, use a food processor if you have one, pop the flour,
baking powder and butter and blitz until breadcrumbs. Add a drop of
ice cold water and pulse, gently, until the pastry comes together (do
not over overdo it). Tip the pastry out onto a sheet of clingfilm,
using the film gather the pastry together into a ball and refrigerate
for 30 mins.
Grease
your pie dish.
Roll
out your pastry, line your dish and refrigerate again until you are
ready to bake.
Place
the potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Saute the onions and garlic in
the oil and cool, then add to the potatoes. Season well. Add the
cheese and parsley.
Tip
the filling into the pastry case and pack tightly – it will look as
if you've too much filling – the tighter you pack, the better it
will be. Mix the remaining cheese and parsley together and sprinkle
over the top.
Place
in a pre-heated hot oven (190fan/210c /gas mark 7) for 40 minutes.
Check after 30 minutes. It should be golden brown.
This
recipe will give you 12-16 portions – depending on how big you like
them – it is filling.
You
can of course scale down the recipe and halve the quantities – my
two pennyworth is that it freezes well, so, in the unlikely event
there are leftovers, you can save any left over for another day. I
can only speak as I find – it will vanish!
My
final tip – in the past I've made and lined my pastry base and
frozen it, as is. When required, pull out of the freezer, pack
tightly with the filling and bake.
You'll
love it.
No comments:
Post a Comment