Butternut Squash and Leek Pie
Brimming with butternut squash, carrots, leeks. peas and herbs, this recipe makes for a delicious vegetarian main. A flavoursome pie with a flaky pastry top.
Introduction
This is a very fresh-tasting pie. The filling is quite light, so tucking into the crispy flaky pastry shell provides a lovely marriage of textures. Serve as a cold summer pie, with minted peas.
Ingredients
| For the filling: | |
| 500g | butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and diced |
| 200g | carrots, peeled and diced |
| 4 | garlic cloves (whole and unpeeled) |
| Olive oil | |
| 2 | leeks (use the green leaves too), sliced |
| 350ml | milk |
| A good handful | of finely chopped fresh mint leaves |
| 100g | frozen peas |
| ½ tsp | cayenne pepper |
| Salt | |
| For the sauce: | |
| 25g | butter |
| 25g | flour or cornflour |
| 1½ tsp | vegetable bouillon |
| The reserved milk from poaching the leeks | |
| 1 tsp | mustard |
| 30g | grated Parmesan or other hard cheese |
| Salt and freshly ground pepper | |
| For the flaky pastry: | |
| 100ml | ice-cold water |
| 1 tsp | lemon juice |
| 100g | butter |
| 100g | vegetable shortening (e.g. Crisco, Trex, Cookeen) |
| 300g | plain flour |
| A pinch | of salt |
| 1 | egg, whisked with 1 tsp cold water, for glazing |
Essential kit
You will need a 20cm or 22cm-round pie dish.
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6 and grease a baking tray.
First make the filling. Lay the squash and carrots on the greased baking tray. Scatter the garlic cloves (in their skins) around the squash, drizzle with a little olive oil, season with salt and toss to coat. Bake in the hot oven for 15 minutes.
Put the sliced leeks in a saucepan over a low heat with the milk and a pinch of salt. Poach for 15 minutes, then sieve the leeks, squeezing out the excess milk and reserving the milk for the sauce. Transfer the leeks to a large bowl with the mint and set aside to cool.
When the squash and carrots have cooked for 15 minutes, take them out of the oven and add them to the bowl with the leeks. Squeeze out the garlic from their skins and add to the bowl with the frozen peas, a little salt and the cayenne pepper. Mix to combine.
Now make the sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Once melted, whisk in the flour or cornflour and bouillon until you have a smooth paste (known as a roux). Add the reserved milk, all at once, and whisk continuously for a few minutes. When the sauce starts to thicken, take the saucepan off the heat, add the mustard and cheese and season with salt and pepper, continuing to whisk. Once all the ingredients are well combined, pour the sauce into the butternut squash mix and leave to cool completely.
Make the flaky pastry. Add the lemon juice to the ice cold water. Cube the cold vegetable shortening and butter and loosely rub together with the flour using your fingertips, leaving pea-sized lumps. Add the ice-cold water and lemon juice to the flour mixture, and lightly bind together until you have a soft dough. Flatten the dough and wrap it in cling film. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling out and using it to line your pie dish. Refrigerate the dough (in the dish) for 15 minutes before adding the filling.
Once you’ve returned the pastry to the fridge for the second time, preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7 and place a baking tray inside to heat up.
Assemble your pie. Tip your cold pie filling into the pastr-lined dish, then egg wash around the rim. Place your pie lid on top and press the dge firmly to seal. Trim the edge with a knife and poke a few holes inthe top of the pie to let steam escape. Crimp your pie edge and decorate, if you like. Brush the top of the pie with egg wash, so it will have a lovely shine.
Place your pie on the hot tray in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6 and bake for a further 25 minutes until golden brown on top. Leave to cool completely and serve with refreshing minted peas.
