MUSHROOM, TARRAGON & CHEESE POT PIES WITH OLIVE OIL PASTRY

SERVES 6 / PREPARATION 30 MINUTES PLUS 2 HOURS RESTING TIME / COOKING 40 MINUTES

When the temperature drops and it’s wincingly cold, few things satisfy like a savoury pie. Crisp crusts are essential to a decent pie, providing a contrast to the soft filling. If you omit the havarti from this recipe, you’ve a pretty decent dairyfree pie. This dairy-free and lard-free pastry has a light texture, not as flaky as puff pastry but one that has a sconelike quality to it, perfect for the pie as it absorbs all the mushroom juices. The olive oil can leave the pastry feeling a bit greasy, so I use an idea from baker Dan Lepard, and make a simple flour and water dough as well and roll the two together as if making puff pastry.

OLIVE OIL DOUGH

300g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 75ml olive oil 75ml tepid water

Mix all the ingredients, kneading until smooth – you could use a food processor, but it’s simple enough to mix it by hand. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

PLAIN DOUGH 300g plain flour ½ teaspoon salt 150ml tepid water

Mix the ingredients and knead until smooth. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Lightly dust a bench with flour and roll the olive oil pastry out to about 1cm thick. Roll the plain dough out until large enough to cover the olive oil dough. Place the olive oil dough on top of the plain one and fold over the edges until they meet in the middle. Roll the dough out to 1cm thick, fold into thirds, repeat the rolling and folding procedure and chill for another 30 minutes. Do this twice more, chilling between each turn. Finally roll out the dough thinly and cut out circles large enough to cover six 6cm pie dishes, with an overhang.

MUSHROOM FILLING

3 tablespoons olive oil

400g shallots, peeled,

thinly sliced lengthways 600g mixed mushrooms – portobello,

Swiss browns, shiitake zest of 1 lemon

300ml vegetable stock

2 tablespoons French tarragon leaves 200g Remutaka Pass Creamery

Garlic Havarti

1 egg, beaten coarse sea salt, to sprinkle over the pastry

Heat the oven to 190˚C.

Heat a large frying pan over a moderate heat and add the olive oil. Add the shallots to the oil and cook for 10 minutes until soft and lightly coloured.

Sort the mushrooms, washing and peeling them, then halve, quarter or slice as needed. Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook for a minute without stirring, adding more oil if necessary. Stir the mushrooms and add the lemon zest. Continue cooking for several minutes until the mushrooms have softened.

Pour in the vegetable stock, increase the heat, season with salt and pepper and simmer for about 8 minutes, until the stock has reduced and there is relatively little left. Stir the tarragon leaves into the sauce. Divide the mushroom mixture equally between the pie dishes.

Cut the havarti cheese into small pieces and sprinkle over the top of the mushrooms.

Brush the pastry rounds with water and place over the top of the pie dishes, water-side down. Press carefully around the edges to form a seal. Brush the top of the pastry with the beaten egg and sprinkle with a little coarse sea salt.

Place the pie dishes onto a flat tray and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, until golden.