Prep time:

Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Total time:

Serves: 8

1.6kg leeks, washed, sliced ½cm thick

400g small white turnips, peeled, cut into 2cm cubes

400g banana shallots, peeled, sliced into 2cm rings

600g asparagus, cut into 2cm lengths

120g baby leaf spinach, washed

6tbsp olive oil

80g butter

4tbsp crème fraîche

1ltr vegetable stock

200g soft goat cheese, cut into cubes

4tsp tarragon, finely chopped

8 sprigs of thyme

8 sprigs of rosemary

320g puff pastry, ready rolled

1 egg, lightly whisked

salt & pepper to taste

An easy-to-make pie made with healthy spring vegetables and tasty goat's cheese.

Earliest references to pies, go back to the Middle Ages, when they were a popular part of any banquet or feast. Vegetables were a common food for the poorer people although 75-80% of the diet was protein.

  1. Preheat oven 180˚C. Sauté the leeks in half the olive oil and half the butter until soft, then remove from the pan and set aside in a bowl.  Add the remaining oil and butter to the pan. Add the turnips and shallots and cook until golden brown. Then add the stock, thyme and rosemary sprigs and cook till the turnips are tender. Remove the turnips from the stock and add to the leeks. Keep the stock.
  2. Meanwhile, blanch the asparagus until just tender, drain and add to the other vegetables along with the spinach, tarragon, crème fraîche and goat’s cheese. Gently mix together and place in your pie dishes with a little stock if needed.
  3. Cut the pastry to fit your pie dishes and brush the rim of the dishes with the beaten egg. Place the pastry on and crimp the edges, and cut two slits in the top of the lid so the steam can escape and brush the pastry with egg.
  4. Place the dishes on a baking tray and cook for 30-40 minutes till the pastry is golden brown and piping hot.

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