I’ve been on a bit of a vegetarian kick lately when I’ve been looking for new recipes. I came across a Mushroom Leek Pie with a creamy gravy, though Attachment Mummy’s recipe was vegan. I’ve no problem, obviously, with vegan dishes but I’m not a fan of dairy substitutes so I decided to go just with vegetarian for this dish. And since the hill towns in our area saw snow this week, comfort food is all the range round here!
We did manage to start to get some plants in that won’t do well in frost. I may have been tempting fate but we’ll see. We’re going to have a bed for edible flowers and then a bed for cut flowers. Any suggestions for what to plant would be greatly appreciated. Hopefully, if all goes well this summer there will be some recipes inspired by the edible flower bed.
Technique for Mushroom Leek Pie
Chop up all the ingredients. Melt the butter in a saucepan and sauté the garlic and mushrooms.
Depending on how much butter the mushrooms soak up, you may need to add more butter when it comes time to make the roux. They can be quite the sponges!
When the mushrooms start to brown add the oregano and leeks. Sauté for a couple of minutes. Then add the flour and mustard.
I like my gravies in pies to be thick so I added the 1/3 cup of flour. If you don’t like it overly thick go with a 1/4 cup. The mixture will get thick and a bit stiff. Stir while cooking for a few minutes then add the white wine. Season with sea salt and pepper. Add the milk and bring to a boil while stirring. You don’t want a roiling boil and keep an eye as it can boil over quickly if you aren’t paying attention. Add the parmesan cheese.
Taste and adjust the flavours as needed. You want to make sure the mustard and oregano come through the milk. Make up the pastry and roll out thinly. Spoon the mushroom and leek mixture into ramekins. Cover with the pastry. Use a knife to pierce the top and brush milk all over.
Bake at 400F/200C until the pastry is flaky and golden brown.
Serve immediately. If you save some of this for another day, go with the 1/4 cup flour as it does get even thicker as leftovers.
Mushroom Leek Pie
A creamy pie with a lovely flaky crust.
Ingredients
Pastry
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour 70g
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp cold water
Mushroom Leek Filling
- 4 tbsp butter
- 3-5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 4-8 mushrooms (depending on size), sliced
- 1 cup chopped leek
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
- sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1/3 cup flour
- 2 tbsp stone ground mustard
- 1/2 cup dry white wine 4oz
- 2 cups milk 16oz
- 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
Pastry
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Using a pastry fork or fingers, blend the butter, salt and flour until the mixture resembles small breadcrumbs.
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Add the water bit by bit to the mixture, using your fingers to incorporate the water into the pastry. You may need more than 2 tbsp but add water until the dough comes together.
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Roll out thinly and using a cookie cutter, cut to the size you need.
Mushroom Leek Filling
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Melt the butter in a saucepan. Sauté the garlic and mushrooms until the mushrooms start to brown. Add the leeks and oregano. Cook for a few minutes.
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Add the flour and mustard. Stir while it cooks for a few minutes so the flour is cooked thoroughly.
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Add the white wine then season with sea salt and pepper. Add the milk and bring to a boil. Don't have it a rapid boil or it will boil over. To finish add the parmesan cheese.
Constructing the pie
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Fill four ramekins with the filling. Top with the cut pastry. Use a knife to put slits in the pastry and then brush the pastry with milk.
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Bake at 400F/200C until the pastry is golden and flaky.
