Pumpkin and Blue Cheese Pie, the Second

I've been wanting to revisit the idea of the pumpkin and blue cheese pie since the first time I made one. This time I changed the recipe a little, and used a rough puff pastry.

Half of the resulting pie

Pastry (rough puff)

• 180g unsalted butter, cut into <1cm cubes and chilled in freezer but not frozen
• 240g plain flour
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup water, chilled

Filling

• Flesh of half a butternut pumpkin weighing about 1kg
• 2 brown onions, chopped finely
• 1 head of garlic, split into cloves and peeled
• 100g blue cheese (Stilton in this case), crumbled
• 50g parmesan, grated
• 150g or so spinach leaves, chopped finely

Method

• Make the pastry in advance: smoosh the butter into the flour with your fingers until all the pieces of butter are flattened. Then gradually mix the water into the flour with fingertips until the dough forms - don't add all the water if you don't need to. Now give it a gentle kneading before rolling out into about a 5x10cm piece. Fold it once into a square, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate until well cooled. Over the next hours / days take the dough out, roll out until it can be folder in half (or thirds, or even quarters and halves, whatever you can to get lots of layers). If it's cool enough then do that again before returning to the plastic and the fridge. Fold at least 6-8 times - the more times the nicer the result will be. Because it's warm at the moment I did this over several days, getting a some folds in during the morning.
• Chop the pumpkin into small pieces, no larger than about 2cm at most a side.
• Roast pumpkin and garlic at 200ºC until both are nicely cooked (about 40 minutes). Give them a toss to mix up about half-way through.
• Place pumpkin and garlic in a mixing bowl, mash both together a little to mix and leave to cool.
• Fry the onion slowly for about 30 minutes (a fully hour if you want it fully caramelised) and then add to the bowl with the pumpkin and garlic.
• Fry the spinach until wilted and add to the bowl also. Add in parmesan and some salt and pepper, and mix well. Finally add the crumbled blue cheese and mix through gently (I find it smooshes through if mixed too much and it's nice to have blobs).
• Preheat your oven to 200ºC
• Roll out the pastry until it's a good 50cm across. Try for a circle if you can, but if you can't then a square will also work. Place in the middle of a baking tray that's at least 30cm across. Put the pumpkin filling from the bowl in the middle of the pastry, evenly spread out to leave about 5cm or more at the edges. Fold the pastry in to the centre, crimping together so it holds while baking. Brush the top with a beaten egg if you like to have a nice brown glazed finish.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is nice and cooked.

All up, I preferred this mix of ingredients to the last. It does take a while to cook, but a bunch of that can be only minimally supervised.

Chicken, chorizo & potato pie

I wanted to make a pie with chorizo sausage in it, and try a new combination of ingredients, and this pie popped up in my searching. I made some modifications that I would come to regret. Because I was in low-effort mode I used shortcrust pastry which ended up horribly crumbly. Next time I'll use (rough) puff pastry that'll have more structural integrity and suit the pie better. It'll be worth putting in that extra effort of rolling and folding.

Also, no photo because I plumb forgot, sorry!

Pastry Which Did Not Work

1. 2 cups plain flour
2. 160g butter chopped into chunks
3. 1 egg

Blend the flour and butter until the texture is like grainy sand. Then blend in the egg until the whole mixture clumps. In the future, I would also add some water to give the pastry some sticking power. The above mixture was far too crumbly, and I ended up having to knead it slightly to have it hold together at all when being rolled out. Even then it cracked far too easily.

Filling Which Did Work

1. 400g potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm pieces
2. 2 chicken breasts, cut into 2cm pieces
3. 1 chorizo sausage chopped into thin slices
4. 1 leek thinly sliced
5. thyme and rosemary
6. optional whisked egg

Method

1. Place the potato and water in a large heatproof microwave-safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Cook in microwave on High/800watts/100% for 8 minutes or until just tender. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook half the chicken, stirring, for 4-5 minutes or until light golden and almost cooked through. Transfer to a heatproof bowl. Repeat with the remaining chicken.
3. Add chorizo to pan and cook, turning occasionally, for 3-4 minutes or until light golden. Add leek, thyme and rosemary and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until the leek is soft. Add the potato and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until well combined. Transfer to the bowl with the chicken. Toss gently to combine. Set aside for 30 minutes to cool slightly.
4. Preheat oven to 200°C. Line 1 large baking tray with non-stick baking paper or use a non-stick baking tray. Roll out half the pastry and place on the tray. Place half the chicken mixture in the centre of the pastry and shape to form a circle, leaving a 3cm border. Fold pastry edge over the filling to partially enclose, leaving the centre of the pie open. Repeat with remaining pastry and chicken mixture to make a second pie. Brush the pastry edges with egg if you like.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the pastry is cooked through. Set aside on the tray for 5 minutes to cool slightly.

Even with the pastry disaster, it was very tasty :-)