Hairy Bikers Cheese and Potato Pie Recipe

Comfort food doesn’t come much better than this Hairy Bikers cheese and potato pie, and it is easier than the double crust suggests. And all it needs, from Brilliant Bakes, is one 20cm tin and just under two hours, with 6 slices at roughly 585 calories each.

“A really satisfying pie” is their own verdict, and I would go further, because the self-raising pastry bakes softer and thicker than plain shortcrust. So the crust holds its layers like a bakery pie, rather than shattering when you cut it.

The only real way to go wrong is slicing the potatoes while they are warm, since they crumble and the layers turn to mash. So boil them first, let them go completely cold, and the whole thing slices into neat wedges.

Hairy Bikers Cheese and Potato Pie Recipe

Author: Alex Saidani Cooking Method:Baking Cuisine:British Courses:Dinner

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 30 minutesCook time: 50 minutesRest time: 30 minutesTotal time:1 hour 50 minutesServings:6 servingsCalories:585 kcal Best Season:Summer

Description

Two-thirds of a short, rich dough lines a 20cm tin, then a cheese, onion and herb mix alternates with thin potato slices. After that a pastry lid goes on, crimped at the edge with a couple of steam holes and brushed with the last of the egg. Then it bakes at 200°C/Fan 180°C for about 30 minutes, until golden and piping hot.

Ingredients

For the pastry

• 300g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
• Pinch of salt
• 75g butter, chilled and diced
• 75g lard, chilled and diced (or another 75g butter)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tsp Marmite (optional)
• 2 tbsp cold milk

For the filling

• 400g potatoes
• 200g hard cheese, such as Cheddar, Caerphilly or Gruyère, grated
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• Small bunch of parsley or dill, finely chopped
• Salt and black pepper

Instructions

1. Cook the potatoes: boil 400g potatoes whole, in their skins, until just tender, then drain and leave to cool completely. While they cool, which takes about 30 minutes, make the pastry, then peel the potatoes if you like.
2. Rub in: rub 75g butter and 75g lard into 300g self-raising flour and a good pinch of salt, until it looks like fine breadcrumbs. Then add all but a tablespoon of the beaten egg.
3. Bind the dough: whisk the Marmite into the milk, if using, and drizzle it in, mixing to a firm dough. Or just add enough milk to bring it together, so it is not crumbly.
4. Line the tin: roll out two-thirds of the dough on a floured surface and line a 20cm round cake or pie tin. Then chill the lined tin and the rest of the dough until you are ready to fill.
5. Make the filling: slice the cold potatoes quite thinly and preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6. Then mix the cheese, onion and herbs with plenty of black pepper and a generous pinch of salt.
6. Layer: press a third of the cheese mixture over the pastry base and cover with half the potatoes. Then repeat, finish with the rest of the cheese and press everything down quite firmly.
7. Lid and bake: roll out the rest of the pastry for the lid, then trim, crimp and cut a couple of steam holes. Brush with the reserved egg and bake for about 30 minutes, until the filling is piping hot and the pastry golden.

FAQs

What is the Mums Know Best cheese pie?

Maureen Kirkland’s “cheese pie” in Mums Know Best has no pastry, just mashed potato layered with 550g of mature white cheese under a breadcrumb crust. When her children were poorly she made it, seasoning the mash with white pepper because “white tastes better in mash than black”. In the end it eats like the Cheddar mash on their cottage pie with a Cheddar crust, baked on its own.

Is it the same as their cheese and onion pie?

No, because British Classics has its own cheese and onion pie, their new version of the pies Dave ate for breakfast at college in Lancaster. In that one the potato is diced and the onion blanched for a minute with it, then bound with egg, Lancashire and mature Cheddar. Because raw onion can stay crunchy here, I sometimes blanch it for a minute, drain and cool it, a trick from British Classics.

Can I change the pastry?

They never explain the self-raising flour, though their cheese and onion pie and pasties add baking powder too, suggesting they like some lift. For a vegetarian pie, use the book’s other option of 75g more butter instead of the lard, plus a vegetarian hard cheese. If you use the Marmite, whisk it into the cold milk first, a similar trick to their cheese and Marmite scones.

What do you serve with cheese and potato pie?

Hot with green veg, or northern-style “with a plate of chips”, is how they suggest it for supper. And it is “really nice served at room temperature for lunch” with a tomato salad, while it “doesn’t break up easily” in a picnic box. For another old-fashioned pie with potato and onion, try their corned beef and onion pie or their open, creamy homity pie.

Can I make it ahead, and does it freeze?

They say nothing about keeping or freezing it, so this is my own routine, and I have not tried the freezer. Once baked, I get it into the fridge within two hours, covered, and eat it within two days, cold or reheated once. At 180°C/Fan 160°C under loose foil, a slice reheats in about 20 minutes, until piping hot all the way through.