Recipe Corner - Homity Pie

 

This recipe was something that I spent ages trying to get right after eating it at a glorious veggie / vegan cafe called "Food for Friends" in Brighton (I hope it's still there, still open, I haven't been back to my old stomping ground in YEARS). The FFF version came with pastry that you could wedge a door open with, and was immensely garlicky so I adjusted it a bit with a lot of guesswork and ended up with a fairly good version. It's one of those dishes that is just ridiculously satisfying, filling and moreish so well worth knocking up as a main with some veg or salad on the side, or cold as a picnic pie (Photo isn't mine btw but this is exactly what it will look like when you make it!)

Homity Pie (serves 4-6)

Ingredients

2-3 large potatoes (floury ones suitable for mash are best)

150g plain flour

1 egg (or if you're trying to vegan-ize it, around 80ml olive or vegetable oil)

75g butter or vegetable spread (I use Bertolli as it's olive based and GREAT for baking)

2-3 cloves of garlic (Look, let's put it this way, if you're me, the more garlic the merrier but feel free to tone it down or omit it entirely if you don't like it much)

2-3 spring onions or shallots, chopped

30g frozen or fresh garden peas

75g of cheese (vegan cheddar works really well in this dish, but as a cheese-a-holic I use a combination of strong cheddar and fresh parmesan)

Medium sized baking dish (or if you're scaling the recipe down a bit, a small loaf tin is perfect)

Method

Kick off with the pastry. Add the flour to a mixing bowl along with the butter (or vegetable spread) and a pinch of salt and pepper. Rub in the butter or vegetable spread until you get a fine breadcrumb-like consistency. 

Add in the egg or oil and mix the wet and dry ingredients together to form a dough ball (if the dough is too dry add a touch more oil, or milk (dairy or otherwise) in tiny amounts until the dough starts to stick together (not too wet though!)

Roll out the dough on a floured surface and then press it into your baking dish, ensuring the base of the dish is covered and the dough peeks up over the sides a little. If you're fussy, trim it to the level of the dish as shown in the pic above (but let's face it, who does that!!). Blind bake for about 5 minutes then take it back out of the oven (so you don't end up with a soggy bottom).

Defrost (or pod) the peas. Peel your potatoes. At this point you have a couple of options. 

1) If you want a "Mashy" homity pie (the best!), chop your potatoes into cubes and boil for 6-8 minutes or until the blade of a knife sinks into them

2) If you want a posh layered one, slice your potatoes into 1cm slices and par boil for 5-6 minutes (or until the blade of a knife ONLY JUST sinks in)

Once your potatoes are ready: 

1) For method one, chop the garlic and the spring onions / shallots as finely as possible. Gently fry in a small frying pan with a tiny bit of oil for about 2 mins or until they start to turn clear. Then add this to the drained potatoes along with the cheese and a knob of butter (and perhaps a little milk) and mash 'em good and smooth! Add the defrosted peas then add this mixture to your prepared pastry

2) For method two, do the above step with the garlic and the shallots. This time though, add some butter and a tiny bit of milk to the drained potatoes and bash them around in the pan a bit (not too much, make sure they retain their slice shape). Layer the potatoes into your pastry case along with the cheese, shallots, garlic and peas. 

For both methods, bake for 20 minutes or until the top of your pie starts to brown nicely. 

Serve either hot or cold