This March, it’s time to celebrate the food item which is symbolic of love, comfort and warmth. You might top yours with potato, shortcrust or filo pastry. You might serve it hot, cold, savoury or sweet. No matter how you have yours, it’s time to celebrate the great British pie.
As we mark British Pie Week (7-13 March 2022), we’ve created three alternative recipes for you to devour this week, depending on your food choices and intolerances.
Along with our expert nutritionist, Sal Hanvey, we’ve created our own twist on some classic British pie recipes, for anyone that struggles with a food intolerance (such as gluten or dairy), or simply prefers not to eat meat:
1 – Pork Pie (Vegetarian)
The pie which is famous for its roots in Melton Mowbray, the humble pork pie goes back hundreds of years. Whether you choose to eat yours as a pocket-sized snack, or go all out with an entire meal, few things are as good as a homemade pork pie, with jellied pork stock and a hot water crust pastry.
However pork pie is often, unsurprisingly, carnivorous. It’s entire essence is made up of meat, which can be off-putting to vegetarians. To help those who prefer not to eat meat this pie week, we’ve created a vegetarian pork pie recipe:
Recipe
Serves 4
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 40 mins
Tools
4 x 150ml pudding moulds
1 x rolling pin
1 x round cookie cutter – slightly bigger than the top of the moulds
Ingredients
Shop bought shortcrust pastry of choice
For the filling:
Sunflower oil
150g ‘chicken pieces’ – for example, Quorn
2-3 large mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
65g sweetcorn, from the tin
1 x red or orange pepper, chopped
1 x vegetarian gel sachet – e.g. Dr Oetkers
1 tsp thyme dried herb
Pinch to season, salt and black pepper
1 egg beaten, for glaze
190 ml vegetable stock, e.g. Kallo
Method
1 – Grease the 4 pudding moulds well and place a disc of baking parchment in the base of each, and pop into the fridge to cool.
2 – Preheat the oven to 200℃ (180℃ fan)
3 – Heat a glug of oil in a frying pan and cook 150g Quorn pieces for about 15 minutes until coloured and cooked through.
4 – Add three chopped mushrooms and cook for 2-3 minutes.
5 – Transfer the mix into a bowl and add 65g sweetcorn, the coloured pepper of choice and the dried thyme herb and season with salt and pepper.
6 – Remove the chilled pastry moulds from the fridge.
7 – Cut your pre-made shop bought pastry to fill in the mould and cut circles to seal and sit on top.
8 – Carefully fill the pies with the filling.
9 – Place the circle lids on top of the pies and seal them by pressing the pastry with your fingers.
10 – Cut a small hole in the top of the lid with a knife to pour the gel in later.
11 – Brush the pastry lids with some of the beaten egg.
12 – Place the pies on a baking tray and put in the centre of the oven and bake for about 35-40 minutes approx.
13 – Remove from the oven and let it cool slightly. Remove the pies from the moulds and let them cool. Can be eaten hot or cold.
14 – Make the jelly using vegetable stock, following the instructions on the packet.
15 – Set over a medium heat in a pan on the cooker. Bring to the boil.
16 – Pour the hot gel into the pies via the hole in the top of the pies. Allow it to settle, and eat!
2 – Fish Pie (Dairy-free)
Fish pie, also known as fisherman’s pie, is a traditional British dish, which is made with a heap of dairy ingredients, including milk, white sauce and cheddar cheese. Fish pie is one of the warmest pies which will leave you with a fuzzy, comforting feeling and is often a real crowd-pleaser. Who doesn’t love fluffy, creamy mash?
For those who can’t consume any dairy products, we’ve created an alternative fish pie recipe which replaces the traditional milky white sauce with one which is suitable for those who suffer from lactose intolerance, featuring vegan cheese and cream.
Recipe
Serves 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
180g white fish (cod, haddock or pollock)
180g salmon fillet
130g smoked haddock
60g prawns
740g floury potatoes
1 small leek, sliced
1 fish stock cube
2 hard boiled eggs
3 egg yolks
225ml vegan cream of choice, e.g. soya
40g vegan cheddar cheese, grated
125ml almond milk (or other plant based milk of choice)
Fresh parsley
Method
1 – Pre-heat oven to 220°C/425°F
2 – Place peeled and chopped potatoes in a saucepan and cook in boiling water until soft, then mash to remove lumps and until smooth. Set aside for now.
3 – Cut fish into chunks and place in the bottom of a large ovenproof dish with the prawns.
4 – Put the vegan cream into a pan, crumble in the stock cube and bring to the boil, whisking to dissolve the cube. Pour over the fish in the dish.
5 – To blanch the leek- place chopped leek in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and add to the fish dish.
6 – Add the chopped eggs and cheese as an additional layer to the pie dish.
7 – Bring the milk to the boil and add to the potatoes that you had set aside.
8 – Then add in the egg yolks and stir to combine.
9 – Fork over the top of the dish and place in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes approx.
10 – Glaze over with a bit of melted butter (optional).
11 – Scatter on some fresh parsley and serve with vegetables of choice.
12 – Eat!
3 – Steak and Onion Pie (Gluten-free)
One of the most traditional pub grubs, steak and onion pie is a British institution. Not only is it a great, comforting meal, but steak and onion pie is also ideal to have as a leftover, served with chips, peas, mash or gravy.
The winter warmer is often a family favourite, but it contains many ingredients which include gluten – flour, pastry and even beef stock cubes. But if one of the members of your family can’t eat gluten, you don’t have to opt for a different pie. We’ve created a gluten-free steak and onion pie so you can rejoice and still eat the flakey meal with no regrets:
Recipe
Serves 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 3 hours
Ingredients
2-3 tbsp sunflower oil
1kg braising steak, diced
1-2 tbsp tomato ketchup
2 medium onions, roughly chopped
3 tbsp gluten free plain flour, e.g. Doves Farm
1 egg yolk, beaten
2 beef stock cubes mixed with 650ml boiling water, Wheat & Gluten
Free
400g sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry, e.g. Jus- Rol
Method
To make the filling:
1- Heat the oven to 170C/150C fan.
2 – Heat half the oil in a large casserole dish, brown the meat in stages, and set aside.
3 – Add onions and a little more oil, and cook on a low heat for 5-7 mins until coloured.
4 – Scatter over the flour, stirring and the flour will turn brown.
5 – Transfer the meat and all juices back into the pan and add the ketchup and stir.
6 – Pour in the stock, season with salt and pepper, and simmer and cover with a lid and put in the oven for 2 hrs approx, until the meat is tender and cooked.
To make the pie:
1 – Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan.
2 – Tip the filling into a 25cm, approx, rimmed pie dish and brush the edge of the dish with some yolk of the egg.
3 – Unwrap the pastry, drape over the dish and use a knife to trim and press the edges against the side of the dish.
4 – Brush the pie well with egg yolk.
5 – Make a few little slits in the centre of the pie and bake for 35-40 mins until golden.
6 – Serve!
If you are concerned that your gut health is not as it should be and a food sensitivity test could be an underlying issue, check out our Food Intolerance Test.
