Mushroom Pie and Mash

After the record breaking heat-wave we’ve had, it’s only right to expect the rain we thought had forgotten about the UK to start pouring down. And on a rainy day, what is better than Pie and Mash? I’ll tell you what is better- a clumsily put together but deliciously home made (apart from the pastry) pie and mash!

So I didn’t make the pastry myself and that was a stupid thing of me to do, because;

1.  Short crust is ridiculously easy to make even for a person who doesn't have a mixer!
2.  I didn’t really have enough pastry…

The pastry came from leftovers from a rhubarb pie I had made for my boyfriend’s family. I didn’t make the pastry because I left it to the very last minute to make (the morning of the supper) to assemble the pie and realised I didn’t have the right kind of flour, or anywhere near the amount of butter required. And there’s no pictures, because like the pecan pie from Christmas, we scoffed it all before I had a chance to photograph it. Which only means that I have to make both the pecan pie and the rhubarb pie again in order to photograph it. Maybe, I’ll do that for Pie day.

I went for a mushroom filling because I wanted to cook something vegetarian and I knew that if I made mushrooms the pie would be tasty as hell but wouldn’t take very long to cook. I did for a split second think of making a beef and ale pie but that takes hours of cooking time, forward planning and is far too wintery even on this rainy day.

I put rocket in the picture to remind me that it is June, and also to provide pepperiness which compliments the garlic, meaty mushrooms. Like steak, mushrooms and pepper go hand in hand, dancing around on your palate. In terms of types of mushrooms I went for a mixed bag using oyster, chestnut, Portobello and your regular button mushrooms. Chopped up roughly and fried until they become succulent in garlic, butter and freshly chopped parsley. I put quite a bit of butter in mostly because I wanted to get a lovely sauce out of the mushrooms so the insides of the pie would not be too dry.

Mushrooms naturally have high levels of glutamate (of MSG fame) which is what gives it a strong umami flavour. So when you fill a pie to the brim with mushrooms and top it with gravy, you can convince even the most stubborn carnivore to eat, and even enjoy this veggie dish. Give it a go!

Ingredients
3 punnets of mixed Mushrooms (about 750g), chopped into large chunks
1 block ready-made or home-made short crust Pastry
2 cloves Garlic, crushed
1 small bunch Parsley, torn
500g Potatoes, peeled and boiled
½ bottle of your favourite dark Ale
handful of Rocket
Milk
Stock (veggie, beef, or mushroom juices if using dried mushrooms)
Flour, for dusting and thickening
cooking Oil
Butter
Salt & Pepper

Recipe
Pre heat oven to 180 degrees. Take two large ramekins or a pie dish, and butter the insides. Flour a clean surface and roll out your pastry until it’s about 1.5 cm thick. Cut out shapes to fit our moulds and cut a top that’s slightly bigger than the top of the dish. I can’t find pictures on the internet of how I cut my pastry, but I wouldn’t recommend doing it my way unless you’re in the same position as me and don’t have enough pastry, in which case drop me an email, and I will draw a picture. Blind bake the pastry in the ramekins, but leave out the top.

Now for the mushrooms- heat your largest frying pan with a generous amount of oil, and start adding the mushrooms. Once they’ve soaked up the oil and then started to go brown, add the crushed garlic and give the pan a shake. You want the garlic to flavour the mushrooms but you don’t want them to burn, so keep an eye on them. Then add a knob or so of butter to and shake the pan again, now the butter will take on a garlic flavour, which is good. When the mushrooms are about done, add the torn parsley and mix that around.

The mushrooms should have shrunk now from their original size, so take the ramekins out of the oven and fill them with the mushrooms. Push the mushrooms down with a spoon so it’s all compacted and you can fit them all in. Top with the buttery garlic sauce, then lay the last bit of pastry on the top. Pinch the edges in so it’s snuggly fit, and poke a hole in the top to let the steam out. Cook in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until the top of the pastry is lightly browned.

Make your gravy by reducing the ale and the stock together, adding a roux to thicken after 10 minutes of reduction. You can add any dried herbs you want to the gravy, I put some dried thyme and parsley. Mash your potatoes with a bit of cream, butter and salt and pepper.

Finally, when the pies are ready, carefully remove them from the ramekins, spoon some mash on a plate, top with gravy and serve rocket on the side.