Preparing and cooking pastry base: 45 minutesminutes
Total Time: 1 hourhour50 minutesminutes
Servings: 6slices
Calories: 475kcal
Author: Jacq
A traditional British old school dinners classic recreated with all plant ingredients.The flavours of this cheese, onion and potato pie are reminiscent of a Greggs cheese and onion pastry but with a tastier wholemeal pastry crust and much kinder ingredients.Delicious served hot with the pies cheesy self-saucing topping. Once chilled this pie's topping deliciously sets and makes it so easy to pick up and eat with no cutlery!
Mix in the herbs.Slowly add a tablespoon of water at a time until the dough begins to come together into a ball.If your pastry ball is too sticky just sprinkle in some more flour and if its too dry and crumby incorporate a little bit more water.
1 tablespoon dried mixed herbs, 3 tablespoons water
Lightly knead until you have a smoothish ball of dough. Set aside in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. If the pastry is going into the fridge for longer then wrap in a clean tea towel or piece of greaseproof paper.
Prepare the filling: [prepare while the pastry chills]
Add the potatoes and onions to a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and cook until fork tender.
700 grams potatoes, 185 grams onion
Drain the potatoes and onions but reserve the cooking liquid and add the potatoes and onions back into the saucepan.
Add the milk, onion powder, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast to the saucepan.Using a potato masher mash the potatoes and add a few tablespoons of the potato cooking liquid if it looks too dry.Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside until ready to add to the pie crust.
Preheat oven to 180 Fan, 200 Celsius, 390 Fahrenheit, Gas 6.
Prepare your oven dish by greasing with some margarine and then lining with some greaseproof paper if necessary. We used a ceramic casserole dish so it only needed greasing and not the paper.
Roll out your pastry until thin (roughly about ½ cm) and line your dish.Use the rolling pin to wrap the pastry around and drape the pastry over the dish. Carefully drop the pastry into the dish. Don't worry if it breaks as you can just press it back together in the dish. This is a crumbly pastry.Using a fork poke the pastry base all over the bottom.Trim the sides with a knife.
Add a piece of scrunched up greaseproof paper or sheet of kitchen foil to cover the pastry. Pre-bake the pastry case for 15 minutes.
Turn the oven down to 160 Fan,180 Celsius, 356 Fahrenheit, or Gas 4. Remove the kitchen foil and bake for another 10 minutes.
Remove the pastry case from the oven and scoop in your potato filling, smoothing the top down. Set aside while preparing the cheese sauce topping.
Prepare the cheese sauce:
Melt the margarine in a small saucepan.Once melted add 4 tablespoons of potato cooking liquid and mix with a fork.
1 tablespoon plant-based margarine
Add the wholemeal flour and mix continuously for a few minutes to cook the flour.
2 tablespoon plain wholemeal flour
If your flour mix is too thick add a few more tablespoons of potato water to thin it down a little.
Slowly add the milk whisking all the time.
375 millilitres plant-based milk
Bring to the boil, lower the heat, and simmer gently for about 5 minutes. The sauce will become thicker, so stir frequently to prevent sticking and if necessary turn the heat to low.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and mix through the nutritional yeast flakes and the white miso paste.Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.
25 grams nutritional yeast flakes, 1 teaspoon white miso paste
Assemble and finish baking the pie:
Preheat the oven to 190 Fan, 210 Celsius, Fahrenheit 410, or Gas 6.
Pour the cheese sauce over the potato filling that was added earlier to the pie crust.
Sprinkle the grated cheese over the sauce.
45 grams vegan cheese
Bake on the middle oven shelf for 25 minutes or until nice and lightly golden.
Notes
Nutritional data is for guidance only and is not a strict analysis as ingredients vary.
Leftover pie will stay fresh in the fridge, in a covered container or covered with food wrap on a plate, for 3 days.
Reheat leftovers at 180 Fan, 200 Celsius, 390 Fahrenheit,gas 6 with perhaps some kitchen foil to cover the dish to prevent the pie going to brown Heat for 20-30 minutes or until piping hot throughout. Don't place the pie on the top shelf, rather place towards the middle-bottom as you just want to warm through not over cook.
Leftover pie is amazing served chilled for picnics, parties, buffets, pack-lunch, or just for an everyday lunch at home with a side salad. Chilled pie is very easy to cut into smaller slices.
Leftover pie can be frozen for up to 3 months. Wrap well and remove wrappings while thawing to room temperature.
Old British school dinner recipes often did not include the pastry base so for a quicker recipe omit the pastry, grease your baking dish, and proceed with the pie recipe. A traditional touch is to add sliced tomatoes across the top.