Forget nut roast. This pie is packed full of flavour and highly recommended as a festive treat when you’re fed up eating meat, or for a vegetarian friend; they’ll love you for this.
Also conveniently works with all the usual Christmas day trimmings and can be made up to 24 hours in advance.
You need to be fussy about the pie dishes as the filling needs to come to the top (so the pastry sits proud on the top and doesn’t sink). We used two small enamel dishes that hold 450ml water and measure 16cm x 11cm.
Wine Suggestion: If others are eating turkey then the same wine should be work pretty well for both. Given the earthy, savoury porcini and chestnut mushrooms a good choice, though, is a fruitier Pinot Noir. This may be a youthful village Burgundy or a fresh style from a similar region; look to Baden and Alto Adige for a good alternative. If you look elsewhere make sure the alcohol is not too high, as this can unbalance things.
Festive Butternut Squash & Stilton Pies – makes 2 pies (each one will serve 2 generously)
- 25g dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 butternut squash, about 800g
- 50g butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 200g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
- pinch of dried chilli flakes
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tsp chopped thyme or rosemary
- 1 tbsp brandy
- 6 tbsp double cream or crème fraîche
- 50g stilton, broken into chunks
- 50g walnut pieces
- 140g puff pastry – we used one sheet of all butter puff pastry
- 1 egg yolk, beaten
Soak the porcini in 150ml boiling water for 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6/Fan 180C.
Meanwhile, peel the squash, discard the seeds and cut into small chunks.
Melt the butter in a large frying pan, add the oil, and fry the squash over a medium heat for 10 minutes or so – you want it to be caramelising nicely. Stir in the sliced chestnut mushrooms, chilli flakes, garlic & thyme or rosemary, and fry for 5 minutes. Turn up the heat and add the brandy, then remove from the heat.
Drain the dried mushroom and reserve the liquor, then roughly chop. Add to the squash mixture with the soaking liquid (but leave the grit in the bowl) and double cream, then return to the heat and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat again, season, and stir in the stilton and walnuts. Divide the mixture between two individual pie dishes (see recommended size above). Leave to cool before covering with the pastry.
Cut the puff pastry in half and roll out on a lightly floured surface until slightly bigger than the dishes, the pastry should overhang the edges a bit. Use the scraps to make holly leaves and berries or some other festive motif. Stick to the pastry lids with a little bit of water. You can keep the pies in the fridge now for up to 24 hours.
When ready to cook, get your oven heated and brush the tops with the beaten egg yolk. Sprinkle a large pinch of sea salt and some black pepper over each. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until risen and golden brown.
Serve with seasonal sides – we went for sprouts.
(Original recipe by Rosa Baden-Powell for BBC Good Food Magazine, December 2001. )
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Jono & Jules do food & wine 