So I’ve been trying to embrace my inner earth mother and ventured into vegetable growing this year. We’ve failed at strawberries, destroyed a batch of carrots and didn’t even get a single shoot from the cabbages or cauliflour. One thing that actually took root though were the potatoes.
So you can imagine the kids excitement at having something from the garden we could cook with. We covered chips and mash fairly quickly so decided to try something marginally more adventurous, with this pie.
You will need an 8″ pie dish or cake tin, well greased, medium saucepan and optional cookie cutter.
Ingredients
For the pastry
- 300g plain flour
- 150g butter
- 50-150ml cold water
For the filling
- 200ml double cream
- 500g potatoes, peeled and chopped to bite sized pieces
- Tablespoon of butter
- 1 leek, chopped
- 1 onion diced
- 6 slices smoked bacon, chopped (Not traditional but delicious)
- 100g grated mature chedder
Before you start the fun bits, set the potatoes on to boil in a medium saucepan for 20 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside.
The kids love making pastry but find it impossible to do so without covering all the kitchen surfaces and floor with flour. My top tip for this is lowering your standards, caring less or failing those, daytime drinking.
In a large bowl rub the butter into the flour until is resembles breadcrumbs.
Gradullay add the water a spoonful at a time whilst stirring until the mixture comes together in a firm dough.
Pop three quarters into the fridge to chill while you make the filling.
The filling is a bit more of a grown up job. So while you’re getting on with the boring bits, set the kids on rolling out the remainder of the pastry and cutting shapes for the top of the pie.
In a medium saucepan, gently cook the leeks and onions until they start to soften. Add the bacon and cream and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes before removing from the heat.
Add the cheese, stir well and set aside.
Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out to 1/4″ thickness.
Cover the pie dish/tin with the pastry, ensuring it comes up to the edges of the pan.
Pop in the potatoes and cover with the creamy cheese mixture.
Now comes the fun part of arranging your cut shapes over the top of the pie. We used stars on my 4 year olds request but use whatever your small person dictates.
Once arranged brush with a little beaten egg and bake for 45 minutes or until golden.
Serve warm with plenty of green veg or a crispy salad!
Baking With Kids 