Little parcels of pastry make great picnic food – and, as the weather cools, can also be filled with autumn flavours
Who doesn't love a little pie? A tiny parcel of crisp pastry and juicy filling all to themselves? A pie that can be taken on a picnic, eaten in the garden or tucked into a lunchbox next to a foil-wrapped Tunnock's wafer. The pastry can be melting rough puff for eating straight from the oven, or something a little firmer for carrying to the beach or taking along in a picnic basket.
This week I made a tray of tiny pies with a hot water crust- style pastry – the sort you would normally use to encase the filling of a pork pie. We ate them straight from the oven, as crumbly and tender as you could imagine. Later, the pastry firmed up enough to make them suitably robust for a picnic.
Another set of pastry turnovers, much more fragile with a rough puff-style crust, was made later in the day, with a filling that was the essence of early autumn: bulging with mushrooms, herbs and berries. Pies to delight, pies to please, pies all for yourself.
*Mushroom and blueberry pies*
Makes 4
*For the pastry:*
*plain flour *175g, plus extra for rolling
*baking powder *½ tsp
*fine salt *½ tsp
*unsalted butter *100g, cut into small cubes
*egg yolk *1
*milk *a little
*egg *1, beaten*For the filling:*
*onions *2 medium
*groundnut or rapeseed oil *a little
*chestnut mushrooms *350g
*thyme sprigs *8
*crème fraîche *150ml
*blueberries *125g
Make the pastry. Put the flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl, add the butter, cut into small pieces and rub it into the flour till it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Mix in the egg yolk and then enough milk to make a soft but rollable dough. Pat into a ball and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6. On a generously floured board, roll the dough out to 1cm thick, fold it in by thirds, then roll and fold again. Chill for a further 30 minutes.
For the filling, peel and slice the onions and roughly chop them. Warm a little oil in a casserole or large saucepan and add the chopped onions, letting them cook over a moderate heat till they are soft and pale gold. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs and stir them in, together with salt and pepper. Slice the mushrooms thinly, add them to the onions and continue cooking, the heat quite low, till they are nut brown. Stir in the crème fraîche and blueberries, continue cooking briefly then remove from the heat.
Roll the dough into a square measuring roughly 24cm, then cut that into four equal squares. Divide the mushrooms between each square of pastry, piling them in the centre, then brush a little beaten egg around the edges, bring the opposite corners of the squares together and seal loosely along the edges. It is good to do this loosely, so the seals break here and there to reveal the mushrooms within. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush the outside of the pastry with beaten egg then bake for about 40 minutes till golden. Allow to cool a little before eating.
*Potato, onion and anchovy pies*
Makes 12 small pies
*For the filling:*
*new potatoes *300g
*medium onions *2* *
*olive oil *a little
*the leaves from thyme sprigs *6
*gruyère cheese *150g
*marinated anchovy fillets *24*For the pastry:*
*lard or dripping *200g
*water *220ml
*plain flour *575g
*lard and flour for greasing the tin *a little
*egg *1, beaten*You will also need a 12-hole muffin tray*
Peel the onions, then slice into thin rings. Warm a little olive oil in a high sided frying pan, then add the onions, letting them cook for 10 minutes or so till soft but barely golden. Scrub the new potatoes, slice each into pieces roughly the thickness of a pound coin, then add them to the onions, tossing them in the oil, seasoning with the thyme leaves, black pepper and a little salt.
Grate the cheese. When the potatoes are soft enough to pierce effortlessly, remove from the heat, stir in the grated cheese and the anchovies and set aside.
Make the pastry. Put the lard and water into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Sift the flour with a good pinch of salt into a large bowl. Pour the hot lard and water into the flour, mix with a wooden spoon, then leave until cool enough to handle. The pastry must be warm when you start to work it.
Set the oven at 180C/gas mark 4. Lightly grease and flour the muffin tins to stop the pastry sticking. Roll the pastry out until it is about the thickness of two pound coins. Using pastry cutters or a saucer as a template, cut 12 discs of pastry that fit the muffin tins, and 12 lids. Line each hollow in the muffin tin with pastry, pushing the dough into the corners and up the sides of the tins with your fingers. It should spread quite easily. If it slides down, leave it to cool a bit more. Make certain there are no holes or tears.
Fill the tins with the potato, onion and anchovy mixture, then brush the rim of each with a little beaten egg. Place the reserved lids of pastry on top of each pie and press the edges together to seal. Brush with a little beaten egg then poke a small hole or slit in the top of each to let out any steam and to prevent the pastry splitting. Bake for about 50 minutes until the pastry is pale gold. Leave to cool a little before removing carefully from the muffin tray. Eat warm.Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk Reported by guardian.co.uk 12 hours ago.
Who doesn't love a little pie? A tiny parcel of crisp pastry and juicy filling all to themselves? A pie that can be taken on a picnic, eaten in the garden or tucked into a lunchbox next to a foil-wrapped Tunnock's wafer. The pastry can be melting rough puff for eating straight from the oven, or something a little firmer for carrying to the beach or taking along in a picnic basket.
This week I made a tray of tiny pies with a hot water crust- style pastry – the sort you would normally use to encase the filling of a pork pie. We ate them straight from the oven, as crumbly and tender as you could imagine. Later, the pastry firmed up enough to make them suitably robust for a picnic.
Another set of pastry turnovers, much more fragile with a rough puff-style crust, was made later in the day, with a filling that was the essence of early autumn: bulging with mushrooms, herbs and berries. Pies to delight, pies to please, pies all for yourself.
*Mushroom and blueberry pies*
Makes 4
*For the pastry:*
*plain flour *175g, plus extra for rolling
*baking powder *½ tsp
*fine salt *½ tsp
*unsalted butter *100g, cut into small cubes
*egg yolk *1
*milk *a little
*egg *1, beaten*For the filling:*
*onions *2 medium
*groundnut or rapeseed oil *a little
*chestnut mushrooms *350g
*thyme sprigs *8
*crème fraîche *150ml
*blueberries *125g
Make the pastry. Put the flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl, add the butter, cut into small pieces and rub it into the flour till it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Mix in the egg yolk and then enough milk to make a soft but rollable dough. Pat into a ball and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6. On a generously floured board, roll the dough out to 1cm thick, fold it in by thirds, then roll and fold again. Chill for a further 30 minutes.
For the filling, peel and slice the onions and roughly chop them. Warm a little oil in a casserole or large saucepan and add the chopped onions, letting them cook over a moderate heat till they are soft and pale gold. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs and stir them in, together with salt and pepper. Slice the mushrooms thinly, add them to the onions and continue cooking, the heat quite low, till they are nut brown. Stir in the crème fraîche and blueberries, continue cooking briefly then remove from the heat.
Roll the dough into a square measuring roughly 24cm, then cut that into four equal squares. Divide the mushrooms between each square of pastry, piling them in the centre, then brush a little beaten egg around the edges, bring the opposite corners of the squares together and seal loosely along the edges. It is good to do this loosely, so the seals break here and there to reveal the mushrooms within. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush the outside of the pastry with beaten egg then bake for about 40 minutes till golden. Allow to cool a little before eating.
*Potato, onion and anchovy pies*
Makes 12 small pies
*For the filling:*
*new potatoes *300g
*medium onions *2* *
*olive oil *a little
*the leaves from thyme sprigs *6
*gruyère cheese *150g
*marinated anchovy fillets *24*For the pastry:*
*lard or dripping *200g
*water *220ml
*plain flour *575g
*lard and flour for greasing the tin *a little
*egg *1, beaten*You will also need a 12-hole muffin tray*
Peel the onions, then slice into thin rings. Warm a little olive oil in a high sided frying pan, then add the onions, letting them cook for 10 minutes or so till soft but barely golden. Scrub the new potatoes, slice each into pieces roughly the thickness of a pound coin, then add them to the onions, tossing them in the oil, seasoning with the thyme leaves, black pepper and a little salt.
Grate the cheese. When the potatoes are soft enough to pierce effortlessly, remove from the heat, stir in the grated cheese and the anchovies and set aside.
Make the pastry. Put the lard and water into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Sift the flour with a good pinch of salt into a large bowl. Pour the hot lard and water into the flour, mix with a wooden spoon, then leave until cool enough to handle. The pastry must be warm when you start to work it.
Set the oven at 180C/gas mark 4. Lightly grease and flour the muffin tins to stop the pastry sticking. Roll the pastry out until it is about the thickness of two pound coins. Using pastry cutters or a saucer as a template, cut 12 discs of pastry that fit the muffin tins, and 12 lids. Line each hollow in the muffin tin with pastry, pushing the dough into the corners and up the sides of the tins with your fingers. It should spread quite easily. If it slides down, leave it to cool a bit more. Make certain there are no holes or tears.
Fill the tins with the potato, onion and anchovy mixture, then brush the rim of each with a little beaten egg. Place the reserved lids of pastry on top of each pie and press the edges together to seal. Brush with a little beaten egg then poke a small hole or slit in the top of each to let out any steam and to prevent the pastry splitting. Bake for about 50 minutes until the pastry is pale gold. Leave to cool a little before removing carefully from the muffin tray. Eat warm.Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk Reported by guardian.co.uk 12 hours ago.