Cheese & Potato Pie

I felt like making a savoury pie today, so I opted for cheese and potato but only using ingredients that I already had in my cupboard and fridge.  A quick check decided me on cheese and potato pie.

For this I wanted a rich pastry, flavoured with cheese too and then potatoes roughy mashed and with some cheese incorporated into them, with more cheese on the top.  For the cheese I used Grana Padano which is a hard italian cheese, of a similar texture to parmesan, which grates easily.  Then for the cheese to top the potatoes I opted for boursin, a lovely soft, herby cheese from France.  I also had some buffalo mozzarella, so I decided to add some of that too.   I think that the Grana Padano could easily be swapped out for parmesan or pecorino.  The Boursin could also be swapped out for a soft, or semi soft cheese of choice, such as stilton, cubed or sliced cheddar, goronzola etc.  The mozzarella was more to give a bit of stringy texture during eating and could easily be omitted.

The recipe is actually very simple and results in a delicious tasting pie, which is so rich in flavour.  I  served it warm, but it would certainly store in the fridge for a few days, or it could be frozen too.

As I mentioned it tasted so good and turned out slightly rustic in appearance which suits me just fine. I really like this pie and will be making it again throughout the summer, when I will probably eat it cold with some salad.

Ingredients:
For the pastry:

• 370g(2 1/2 cups) plain flour(or cake and pastry flour)
• 150g(1 stick + 2 1/2 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
• 50g(1 3/4 oz) mozzarella(optional)
• pinch of salt
• 100g(about a cup) of finely grated Grana Padano(or other hard cheese)
• 2 medium eggs(large in USA)

For the filling:

• 400g(14 oz) potatoes boiled until soft and then peeled
• 20g grana padano
• 150g(5 1/4 oz) soft cheese of choice( I used Boursin)
• 50g(1 3/4 oz) mozzarella(optional)
• salt to taste
• chopped fresh parsley to sprinkle over cheese, if desired

Method:

1. Place the butter and grated grana padano into a large bowl and mix with a hand, squeezing together, to get combined.
2. Add the salt to the eggs.
3. Add the eggs and mix with a hand again to get them combined too.  The mixture will look curdled but it is fine.
4. Add the flour and use your hand to squeeze and mix into a dough.
5. When the mixture is clumping into a dough tip it out onto a work surface and knead it until the dough forms into a smooth paste like texture.
6. Form into a disc and chill for 30 minutes.
7. Place the potatoes into a bowl, with salt to taste, and use a fork to roughly mash them.
8. Mix the 20g of grana padano into the potatoes.
9. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/400 F.
10. Place a baking tray in the oven to heat up, this will be used to stand the tart tin on to bake.
11. Cut off about a quarter of the dough and set aside.
12. Roll the remaining dough, on a lightly floured surface, to a circle of about 30 cm diameter., about 5 mm/ 1/4 inch in thickness.
13. Don’t worry too much about cracking, you can patch later if necessary.
14. Gently roll the the pastry onto the rolling pin and lift it to place it in a 23cm/9 inch tart tin(or even a springform cake tin.
15. Gently press the pastry into the sides and onto the base, leaving an overlap all around the edge.
16. Cut off any excess, but leaving that overlap in place.
17. Use a form to prick all over the base of the pastry.
18. Spread the potato mixture evenly over the base.
19. Spoon, or use fingers, to deposit clumps of Boursin over the potatoes, spreading it a little.
20. Add cubes of mozzarella if desired.
21. Sprinkle chopped parsley over the top, if using.
22. Take the scraps of pastry and the piece that was set aside and work them into a ball.
23. Roll out into a rectangle so that you can cut 1/2inch strips(about 10-12 strips).
24. Place half the strips, leaving a gap between each, parallel to each other over the surface of the pie.
25. Place the other half of the strips at an angle to the first set, over the surface of the pie.
26. Snip off any excess lengths.
27. Fold the overlap of pastry down onto the end of the strips, and fold all the way round.
28. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
29. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool further.
30. Server hot, warm or cold, as preferred.