Homity Pie

A vegetarian friend made this for us years ago using the Cranks recipe. It's a tasty recipe, but a little on the dry side. I added more cream and some frozen spinach to moisten the filling. I also swapped in a sweet potato as I didn't have quite enough potatoes. I accidentally overcooked the potatoes and sweet potatoes in the pressure cooker and they disintegrated; it's best to leave them firmer so you get nice chunks of potato. The sweet potato cooks quicker than the normal potato - I've just seen a recipe on the pieminister website which says to bake the sweet potato. http://www.pieminister.co.uk/the-homity-pie-recipe/

Apparently the recipe dates from the rationing during the second world war and comes from the West Country.

Homity Pie

Serves 4 - 6
For the pastry

3 oz wholemeal flour
3 oz plain flour
1.5 oz butter
1.5 oz white vegetable fat
2 tbsp cold water

For the filling

a medium sweet potato
potatoes
(potato and sweet potato together about a total of 650g)
1 oz butter
dash of sunflower oil
1 red onion
1 yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp mixed herbs
75g frozen spinach
100 ml sour cream
100 ml single cream/milk (mixture of the two)
1 egg beaten
150g cheddar
nutmeg
salt and pepper

1. Make the pastry by pulsing the flours and fats in a food processor (or rubbing in) until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water and form a dough, then roll it out and line a pie dish (about 25cm diameter).

2. Slice the onions into rings

3. Gently fry the onions, garlic and mixed herbs in a mixture of butter and sunflower oil until softened and slightly golden. Stir in the frozen spinach and heat gently until it melts and mixes into the onions.

4. Peel and cook the potatoes and sweet potatoes. Chop and add to the onion mixture, along with seasoning and half the cheese.

5. Pile the cooled mixture into the pastry case , Beat together the creams/milk and egg, then pour over the potato mixture. Grate nutmeg over the top and sprinkle remaining cheese over.

6. Bake in preheated oven at 200 C for around 40 mins.

We dived in before I remembered to take a photo!