Dinner last night was my mum’s cheese pie (possibly a flan, but we always called it pie). Mum used to make it a lot, and it’s dad’s favourite so I made sure I learned how to make it. I thought while I was making it, I should document it here. So here be my mum’s cheese pie recipe for those who enjoy that sort of thing.
Note: Trex is a vegetable fat and Stork is a baking margarine in the UK. Non-Brits will need to find the equivalent, or just use their own trusted pastry recipe.
EDIT: I’ve been informed that mature cheese is a term some outside of the UK are not familiar with. It’s basically aged so it has a stronger/sharper flavour.
Pastry
230g Plain Flour
Pinch of Salt
60g Trex
60g Stork
2tbsps Cold Water
Chuck the flour and salt into bowl with the Trex and Stork, then mix it all together with a hand mixer until it looks like breadcrumbs. Tip in 2 tbsp cold water then mix again until it forms lots of bigger clumps. Smoosh them together with your hand to form a nice ball of pastry, then stick it in a plastic bag or wrap it in clingfilm and pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
When you’re ready, roll out your pastry to about 2mm thick. Now, if you’re clever, you can roll it it to just bigger than your 9 or 10 inch pie dish and then do magical things to drape it over the dish and have a beautiful pie cradle. If you’re like me and can’t wrangle pastry if your life depends on it, roll it out in smaller chunks and then patch the pie case together piece by piece until you have a Frankensteinian pie base. It works just as well, and as @abjectcheddar has been known to say, no one will notice with the finished product!
EDIT: I have discovered the life-altering method of rolling pastry out between two pieces of baking paper/parchment. No stick, no mess, and you can move the whole piece of pastry in place with one of the sheets still attached to do it all in one go. I’ve seen it done with clingfilm/saran wrap, but that stuff is the work of Satan, and I’m not on speaking terms with it.
Bung it back in the fridge until you need it. Clean your mixer beaters, because you’ll need them later. Or buy a second set. I just did that.
Filling
200g Onion, finely chopped
150g Mature Cheese (grated)
1/2 Pint Semi Skimmed Milk
2 Eggs (separated)
Knob of Butter
1 tbsp (rounded) Plain Flour
White Pepper
Salt
Pre-heat your oven to Gas Mark 4/180°C/350°F.
Finely chop the onions (tip: cut the onion in half with the root intact, slice finely along but not quite to the root, then chop the other way while holding the root so the onion doesn’t fall apart before you’re done chopping – this may be something everyone but me knew about, but it was an utter revelation when @abjectcheddar showed me, so I’m sharing it).
Throw them in a large frying pan with the butter and cook gently on a low heat for around 10 minutes until they’re nice and soft. While they cook, separate the eggs, yolks in a cup, whites in a bowl. Whisk the egg whites until they’re fluffy and stiff. Set them aside for now.
When the onions are soft, add the flour and mix thoroughly until the onions are evenly covered. Add the milk a sploosh at a time, mixing it in until it makes a smooth sauce. Add a shake of salt and a lot of white pepper (seriously, a lot). Throw in the cheese (even if you don’t generally like mature cheese, it’s best to use as mature as you can get so you get a good cheese flavour – I’m a mild-cheese-only guy, but the pie needs the extra oomph) and mix it until it’s melted.
Stir the egg yolks into the sauce, then fold the whisked whites very carefully into the mixture and try not to knock all the air out of it.
Take out your pastry-filled dish from the fridge, then pour the mixture into it. Bake in the oven for approx 45 minutes. It may be poofy when you take it out of the oven, then sink quite quickly. This is what you want to happen. If it doesn’t, don’t worry, it still tastes the same. I’m at around poofy 75% of the time because I’m still getting the hang of it.
Eat hot or cold. Goes well with salads, baked potatoes, or boiled new potatoes. Dad has it on its own for his lunch at work. Jake is indifferent and prefers catfood.
EDIT: The fluffier, March 2019 version!
