Gruyère, Leek and Potato Pie

Yet another recipe from Olive, a few adaptations required, such as using a plate to bake and blind baking the base.

This is all that you could expect from a cheese and potato pie and more, the buttery leeks complement the potatoes and cheese well. The use of Gruyere adds an additional depth of flavour and makes a change from the usual cheddar

500g Charlotte potatoes , peeled and sliced

2 leeks , sliced and washed

butter

4 tbsp half-fat crème fraîche

100g Gruyère or cheddar, grated

500g block puff pastry

1 egg , beaten

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and cool.

Cook the leeks in a large knob of butter until really tender. Cool then stir in the crème fraîche and cheese and season.

Heat the oven to 200C/fan180C/gas6. Roll out half the pastry, cut out a large circle using a dinner plate as a template and put on a baking sheet, although the original instructions were to use a baking sheet I used an old plate to help retain the shape of the pie. Also because of the depth of the filling you might find it best to blind bake the base for 10 – 15 mins first to ensure all of the pastry is cooked

 Layer up the potatoes and leek mix leaving a border of about 2cm round the edge. Brush the border with egg.

Roll the other half of the pastry out so it is larger than the base. Drape over the top of the pie then smooth down gently to seal and remove any air pockets. trim off the excess pastry and crimp with a fork. Score the top lightly with a criss-cross pattern, then glaze.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until puffed, crisp and golden. Leave for 15 minutes before cutting