Say Cheese! Cheese, Onion and Potato Pie Recipe for British Pie Week
Say Cheese! Cheese, Onion and Potato Pie Recipe
British Pie Week
Say Cheese! Cheese, Onion and Potato Pie Recipe for British Pie Week
Everyone knows the old English rhyme “Simple Simon” and his pies, and I have to confess to being a bit of an extreme pie addict! There are extreme sportsmen (and women) as well as other professions where extreme comes into play, but an extreme pie person? Why not! So, what better opportunity is there then to make a pie for British Pie Week, it seems like a jolly good week to celebrate and bring on the pies is what I say! I have several pie recipes on Lavender and Lovage, if you would like to peruse them (with a view to making one) then here is a handy link to all my “under cover” recipes: Lavender and Lovage Pie Recipes. There are sweet ones, savoury ones, meaty ones, veggie ones, Wartime ration ones as well as festive ones……..there are traditional ones as well as ones with an air of modernity about them. The word pie is simply a magic word that conjures up delicious images for me. (yes, I know, that’s très sad!)
Simple Simon met a pieman going to the fair;
Said Simple Simon to the pieman “Let me taste your ware”
Said the pieman to Simple Simon “Show me first your penny”
Said Simple Simon to the pieman “Sir, I have not any!”
Simple Simon went a-fishing for to catch a whale;
All the water he had got was in his mother’s pail.
Simple Simon went to look if plums grew on a thistle;
He pricked his fingers very much which made poor Simon whistle.
He went for water in a sieve but soon it all fell through;
And now poor Simple Simon bids you all “Adieu”
Say Cheese! Cheese, Onion and Potato Pie Recipe for British Pie Week
My pie offering is a bit of a stunner, well we think so in the Lavender and Lovage household! It’s a simple and traditional British style pie packed to the pastry rafters with mature Cheddar cheese, fluffy mashed potatoes, cream cheese and freshly grated onions. It’s baked in a British pie dish, that was very kindly sent to me from the lovely PR ladies who look after Mermaid Cookware, and is made from Hard Anodised Aluminium with a LIFETIME guarantee! The Mermaid Round Pie Dish I was sent is a generous (8 x 1½”) in diameter and depth and my pie just SLID out on serving it. Ideal for baking crumbles and sweet or savoury pies, this Pie Dish allows four to six generous portions, and I did indeed manage to get six delectable slices of my “Say Cheese”pie from this pie dish. I give this pie dish a BIG thumbs up for its anti-stick qualities, style and that fact it’s made in Britain with a lifetime guarantee.
My Say Cheese pie about to be popped into the oven!
Not only is this new pie recipe of mine tasty, but I like to think that it brings a bit of humour to the table too with its cheesy quotes in pastry letters! I made a batch of my mum’s shortcrust pastry for this pie, it’s a simple Be-Ro basic shortcrust recipe made with 8 ounces (225g) of flour with white vegetable fat (Trex) and margarine (Stork) in equal quantities to make up a total weight of 4 ounces (115g) of fat. I am quite proud of my pastry, as I apparently have a “light” hand and it always comes out crispy light and flaky with a lovely short crumb. (My mum taught me how to make pastry and hers is amazing, so I suppose mine has to be fairly good!)
Say Cheese! Cheese, Onion and Potato Pie Recipe for British Pie Week
I served my “Say Cheese” pie with some fresh salad as well as some home-made Farmhouse Windfall Chutney that I made a couple of years ago; it’s wonderfully mellow now with spiced plum and pear flavours running through it, and I will share the recipe later on this year. You might have noticed the lovely blue dinner plates, well they are part of a wonderful 70 piece dinner, tea and breakfast service I received this week from Churchill China, with whom I will be working with from now on; the pattern is called Penzance, and I will be writing a full post all about my partnership with Churchill China this weekend.
The Caravan Trail – Penzance from Churchill China
But, back to my pie! This pie was made, baked and on the table in a little over three-quarters of an hour. It’s a real simple Simon kind of pie, with good quality ingredients and home-made pastry. By all means use ready-made pastry if time is REALLY at a premium, but although I tend to buy flaky or puff pastry, I nearly always make my own shortcrust pastry. The recipe for my Say Cheese Pie is shared below, and I can see this being an all year recipe for family tea, supper, light lunch, picnics, lunch boxes and casual dinner parties around the kitchen table. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did if you make it, and so let me know by leaving a comment below. I’ll see you later with more NEW recipes to share, including recipes for fish, the 5:2 diet and some baked treats for Mothering Sunday too, Karen
Say Cheese! Cheese, Onion and Potato Pie Recipe for British Pie Week
Say Cheese! Cheese, Onion and Potato Pie
Print recipe
| Serves | 6 slices |
| Prep time | 15 minutes |
| Cook time | 30 minutes |
| Total time | 45 minutes |
| Allergy | Egg, Wheat |
| Dietary | Vegetarian |
| Meal type | Lunch, Main Dish, Side Dish, Snack |
| Misc | Child Friendly, Freezable, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold, Serve Hot |
| Occasion | Barbecue, Birthday Party, Casual Party, Christmas, Easter, Formal Party, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Valentines day |
| Region | British |
| By author | Karen S Burns-Booth |
Ingredients
- 225g (8ozs) home-made shortcrust pastry (made with 225g flour and 115g fats)
- 200g mature Cheddar cheese (grated)
- 2 onions (peeled and grated)
- 4 tablespoons cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon English mustard powder
- 6 to 8 tablespoons cold cooked mashed potatoes (or about 4 large potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 free-range egg (beaten)
Note
A classic British pie made with Cheddar cheese, onions, cream cheese and potatoes, all encased in a crisp shortcrust case - pure heaven! Bring a smile to the faces of your family and try to cut out the letters to spell "say cheese", or decorate with pastry leaves and flowers. Perfect for picnics, lunch boxes and family suppers, this pie also freezes well.
Directions
| Step 1 | Pre-heat oven to 200C//Gas Mark 6. Grease a 20cm/8" pie dish/tin. |
| Step 2 | Mix the grated cheese, grated onion, cream cheese, English mustard powder and cold mashed potato together, and make sure they are well combined. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste and set to one side. |
| Step 3 | Roll out three quarters of the pastry on a lightly floured surface, until it’s large enough to line the pie dish/tin, with a little excess that hangs over the edges. |
| Step 4 | Spoon the cheese and potato filling into the lined pie dish. |
| Step 5 | Roll the remaining pastry so it sits over the filling. Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten egg, and then lay the pastry over the top. Nip the edges together and trim with a knife. Crimp the sides with your fingers or with a fork, and brush the top of the pie with some beaten egg. |
| Step 6 | Cut out decorative leaves, with any leftover pastry, or cut out the words "say cheese"! Brush with more egg and then place the pie on a baking sheet, and bake it for 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden brown. Leave the pie to rest for 5 minutes or so, and then cut it in slices to serve. |
Say Cheese! Cheese, Onion and Potato Pie Recipe for British Pie Week
Basic Shortcrust Pastry
| Serves | 340g (12 ounces) |
| Prep time | 45 minutes |
| Dietary | Vegetarian |
| Meal type | Appetizer, Lunch, Main Dish, Side Dish, Snack |
| Misc | Freezable, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold, Serve Hot |
| Region | British |
| By author | Karen S Burns-Booth |
Ingredients
- 340g plain flour (12 ounces)
- 80g white vegetable fat (3 ounces)
- 80g butter or margarine (3 ounces)
- cold water (to mix, about 30ml)
- pinch of salt
Directions
| Step 1 | Mix flour and salt in basin, rub in fats until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. |
| Step 2 | Using a knife to cut and stir, mix with cold water to form a stiff dough. Do not over mix, light of hand is best. Allow pastry dough to chill and "relax" for 30 minutes, in a fridge or a cool place, cover the bowl or put the pastry in some cling film. |
| Step 3 | Turn dough on to a floured surface and knead lightly. Roll out and use as required. |
Say Cheese! Cheese, Onion and Potato Pie Recipe for British Pie Week
Disclaimer: With thanks to Mermaid Cookware who sent me a free pie dish to use and review; all opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review. Karen S Burns-Booth
Karen S Booth
I love your pies. I am a total fan of your shortcrust pastry too – although gosh is it short! After last weeks pie I have had requests for more and this one sounds lovely. I do like the letters on the top too!
Ooooh – we used to have this at school! What memories! I shall definitely make this!
wow this is so cute
I love the writing on the top is such a fun idea
I made my own and I must say I feel so pleased with myself hehe
and in homage to yours I made sure I wrote on the top of mine, it said pie !
Ooooh yummy!
Your crust does look gorgeous..light and flaky! I so want this right now, but alas, I am on a grain free diet
Nothing like a good British pie.
Nazneen
Wow. You’re making me hungry!
This looks like a perfect comfort food pie – I shall have to give it a try! (Rhyming unintended, but I quite like it…)
Looks yum. I’d like to have a go at making a pie. Can you use Trex as the white vegetable fat? (I need to make more food from scratch.)
cheese pie used to be one of things that other kids hated at school but I always loved it and your really takes me back to those times… soo gooey and buttery and of course, cheesy… I love it!… I love the fact that it’s always some kind of ‘week’ in this country but I think pie week is probably my favourite!… your pictures are looking exceptionally good Karen xx
It has been decided that pie is on the menu tonight.and I will once again be using your fabulous pastry recipe. I do like the idea of slicing up onion to put inside too so might do that as well.
oooh what a lovely carb fest here. Perfect for a rainy day!
I tasty filling – I have not bought much meat at all since the horse meat scare!
This was so gorgeous, My husband isn’t keen on Onions so I substituted these with sweated down leeks, and used double cream instead of cream cheese…lovely . My pastry was so short, melted in the mouth
THANKS so much for letting me know and I bet it was wonderful with leeks too!
This recipe sounds delicious… Another one to add to my list of ‘Must Bake Recipes!’
I love your blog!
shared here https://twitter.com/SmokinHerbz1/status/310827664543973376
ooh,another great recipe to bookmark for printing you have some great ones x
Your pastry looks so appetisingly golden and crumbly.
This looks delicious! My partner isn’t a pie fan but I love them. I might try to change his mind with this!
shared here, https://twitter.com/SmokinHerbz1/status/311600906502299650
Not a massive fan of cheese for baking but this certainly looks very scrummy indeed!
This looks like a delicious recipe to make when you’ve only got store cupboard basics – much better than resorting to a take-away when you’ve not had time to go to the supermarket
The pasty as lovely! Kids smothered theirs in ketchup though!
Shared via FB – lovely thanks x
I have tweeted this to share the goodness
This sounds yummy. Its a shame my husband is a cheese hater – strange man!
I love cheese and potato pie, grated onion sounds a really good addition. Do you wear goggles to grate?
Love the colour and the depth of it, look at those colours!
Ooh sounds delicious!
love cheese pie
Memories of school days but think I will have a go at making this on
this looks yummy!
shared via Google+
This looks wonderful
Oh my, this looks and sounds delicious – recipe printed, will definitely be trying it!
tweeted this! yum! my friend always does pastry writing on her pies, she is way cleverer than me!
This looks good. I would love to recreate this using some strong Extra Mature Cheddar to give it that extra kick.
Mmmm, great looking pie.
What an amazing recipe