Nigel Slater’s savoury pie recipes

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/29/nigel-slater-savoury-pie-recipes

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There are days when all you want on your plate is softness and gentle flavours. A bowl of porridge, perhaps; a risotto whose grains are bound by homemade chicken stock; soporific macaroni cheese bubbling in its dish. Other days you crave crispness: the crackle of a piece of tempura puffed and blistered from its oil, the sweet crunch of a brandy snap or the flakiness of a puff-pastry tart.

Mostly, I want both. The rough pebble-dash of a crumble crust and the soft sweet fruit underneath or the rustling pastry of a pasty with its filling of lamb and gravy. The contrast of textures makes something that tastes good even better. The real success of a velvety chicken liver pâté is only really obvious when you spread it on a triangle of light, crisp toast.

And so it is with the recipes I have been working on this week. The shattered crust of a well-baked puff-pastry shell, the softness of its filling – of fish and cream or shredded, buttered vegetables – then a final topping of savoury crumble. So we have a leek tart with a final layer of cheese crumble and a fish and potato pie whose top crust is not pastry but made of tarragon-flecked crumbs. Layer after layer, the crisp and the soft, the rough and the smooth.

Leek, courgette and Caerphilly tart

Makes 2 tarts

and serves 4

puff pastry 325gcourgettes 500gleeks 400gbutter 70gflour 4 tbsp vegetable stock 400mlCaerphilly cheese 150gbreadcrumbs 25g

Coarsely grate the courgettes using a large-holed grater. Place in a colander in the sink, sprinkle the surface with salt and set aside for 15-20 minutes to draw the water out.

Discard the root end of each leek and the very thickest of the green leaves (they are good for stock), then cut in half lengthways. Cut each half into long, thin strips then rinse thoroughly under cold running water. I say thoroughly because leeks are inclined to harbour fine grit and mud among their layers.

Melt the butter in a medium to large pan, add the leeks then 100ml of water, and let the leeks soften over a medium heat. (I put greaseproof paper over the surface and then cover with a lid to help the leeks steam to softness without browning.)

Rinse the courgettes of their salt, squeeze gently dry with your fist, then add them to the leeks. Leave them to cook for 2 or 3 minutes, until they are opaque, then remove from the pan with a draining spoon, leaving the buttery liquid behind.

Add the flour to the pan and stir to form a smooth paste, let it cook for a minute or two then stir in the vegetable stock, little by little, until you have a smooth sauce. Bring to the boil then simmer for 5 minutes, stirring regularly, then return the leeks and courgettes. Crumble in 100g of Caerphilly then season with black pepper and a little salt.

Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6. Roll the pastry out into two rectangles measuring 21cm x 14cm. Score a rectangle inside each, 2cm in from the edges of the pastry without cutting right through, and place them on a nonstick baking tray. Bake for about 12 minutes, until lightly crisp but pale, then remove from the oven. Loosen the central rectangle of pastry along the score lines with a knife and gently ease out the top layer, leaving the base intact.

Divide the filling between the two hollows. Mix the breadcrumbs with the remaining grated cheese then scatter over the surface of each tart. Bake for 20 minutes, until pale gold.

Smoked haddock tart

You will be left with two squares of pastry from the centre of each tart. May I suggest homemade jam, cream and a little icing sugar?

puff pastry 325gnew potatoes 300g smoked haddock 450g double cream 250ml spring onions 3 parsley a small bunchegg yolks 2for the crumble:plain flour 75gbutter 50gtarragon leaves small handful

Cut the potatoes into thick coins, boil until tender in deep, salted water, then drain them. Skin the haddock and cut into short, finger-thick pieces. Finely chop the spring onions. Pour the cream into a saucepan, add the haddock and spring onions with a little salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes, till almost tender. Lift the fish out of the cream with a draining spoon, then leave the cream to cool. Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6.

Finely chop the parsley – you need about three heaped tablespoons – and add to the cream. Gently mix in the egg yolks, potatoes and haddock.

Roll the pastry into four squares measuring roughly 14cm x 14cm. Place them on a baking sheet and score a square on each, 2cm in from the rim. Bake the pastries for about 12 minutes, till dry to the touch, then remove them from the oven.

Reduce the flour, butter and tarragon leaves to coarse crumbs, either with a food processor or using your fingertips. Add a tablespoon or so of water and shake the bowl firmly or stir lightly with a fork till you have crumbs of different sizes.

Remove the top layer from the scored central square of the pastries, leaving the base intact. Fill the hollows with the haddock and potato mixture. Scatter the crumble over and return to the oven for about 25 minutes, till the pastry is crisp.

Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk. Follow Nigel on Twitter @NigelSlater

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