Saturday, 18 February 2017

The humble homity.

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.





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