East Midlands Cheese and Potato Pie
Fluffy mashed potato and sharp regional cheese baked under a crisp, golden shortcrust pastry lid. A hearty East Midlands midweek comfort classic.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 45 min
- Total
- 70 min
- Servings
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Calories
- 590 kcal
Equipment
- •20 cm pie dish
- •large saucepan
- •potato masher
- •frying pan
- •rolling pin
Nutrition
Per serving, approximate
- Calories
- 590 kcal
- fat
- 32 g
- carbs
- 56 g
- fibre
- 5 g
- protein
- 19 g
- calories
- 590 kcal
Instructions
- 1
Boil the potatoes in salted water for 15 minutes until tender, then drain thoroughly.
- 2
Melt 15 g butter in a frying pan over low heat and cook the onion until soft and sweet.
- 3
Mash the drained potatoes with 25 g butter, warm milk, mustard, salt, and black pepper until smooth.
- 4
Stir the cooked onions and both grated cheeses into the warm potato mash until evenly distributed.
- 5
Rub the chilled butter cubes into the flour using fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- 6
Stir in 2 to 3 tablespoons of ice-cold water until the dough forms a firm ball.
- 7
Spoon the cheese and potato filling into a 20 cm pie dish and smooth the top.
- 8
Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to roughly 4 mm thickness to cover the dish.
- 9
Drape pastry over the filling, trim excess, and crimp (fold and pinch the pastry edge into a rope).
- 10
Cut a small steam slit in the centre and brush the top with beaten egg.
- 11
Bake in a fan oven at 180°C for 30 to 35 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and crisp.
Chef's tips
Steam-dry the drained potatoes in the hot pan for one minute before mashing to avoid a soggy filling. Keep the pastry butter thoroughly chilled to achieve a flaky, crisp shortcrust lid.
Ingredient substitutions
- Red Leicester cheese → Double Gloucester or extra mature Cheddar
- chilled unsalted butter (pastry) → equal parts chilled butter and vegetable shortening
Storage
Cover leftovers and store in the fridge for up to three days.
Reheating
Reheat uncovered in a fan oven at 170°C for 15 to 20 minutes to keep the pastry crisp.
Common mistakes to avoid
- •Using waxy potatoes which make the filling gluey rather than light and fluffy
- •Overworking the pastry dough, resulting in a tough and chewy crust
- •Adding cold filling under raw pastry without making a steam vent, causing trapped steam to soften the lid
Serving suggestions
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