Cauliflower, potato and caraway homity pie

A wonderfully comforting recipe from Mark Diacono’s lovely book Vegetables. 

Mark writes: “Even in the small towns of south-west England in the late 1980s, the occasional health-food shop and wholefood cafe could be found, an island of nutrition in a sea of Spacedust and limeade. Their menus invariably featured at least one thing from the genuinely game-changing Cranks Recipe Book. Very often that was homity pie, a carb-heavy coming-together of potatoes, cream, cheese and pastry.

Even writing those words makes me simultaneously ravenous and keen to listen to ‘Sign of the Times’. Here is a gorgeous variation on its theme.”

Unlike. Mark Diacono I’m old enough to remember Cranks and the original homity pie and have always fancied making it. Here’s my - and your - chance!

Serves 4

For the pastry

250g (9oz) plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting

pinch of salt

1 tsp caraway seeds, lightly cracked in a mortar and pestle

150g (5oz) butter

1 egg, beaten, plus extra for brushing

For the filling

500g (1lb 2oz) new potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1cm/1⁄2in thick)

30g (1oz) butter or extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1⁄2 smallish cauliflower, thinly sliced

150g (5oz) Cheddar, coarsely grated or crumbled small

1⁄4 freshly grated whole nutmeg

small bunch of chives, thinly sliced

250ml (9fl oz) double (heavy) cream

flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put the flour, salt, caraway seeds and butter into a food processor and blend until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg and pulse until the mixture just comes together. (Alternatively, using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour and salt until it resembles breadcrumbs, then add the egg and mix to form a dough.) Bring the dough together with your hands and shape into a round. Wrap in clingfilm (plastic wrap) and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes while you make the filling.

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well and allow to dry.

Melt the butter in a large pan over a medium heat and fry the onion for about 8–10 minutes until soft. Stir in the cauliflower, cover and cook for 5–10 minutes, stirring often until the cauliflower begins to soften. Add the potatoes and half the cheese.

Season the mix with the nutmeg, chives and some salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F.

Lightly flour the work surface, then roll out the pastry to fit a tart tin about 20cm (8in) in diameter. The pastry should be around 4mm (1⁄4in) thick. Leave the edges of the pastry bigger than the tin, as it will shrink a little during cooking. Prick the base of the pastry with a fork and line with baking parchment. Fill with baking beans (pie weights) and blind bake for 20 minutes.

Remove the parchment and beans from the case, brush the pastry with a little beaten egg and return to the oven for 10 minutes until the pastry is golden. Trim the edges of the pastry with a sharp knife, then turn the oven down to 170°C/150°C fan/340°F.

Spoon the filling mixture evenly into the tart case and pour over the cream. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake in the hot oven for 35–40 minutes until the pastry is crisp and the filling is set and lightly golden. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes or so before cutting into wedges. Serve warm or at room temperature.

What to drink: I’m immediately thinking of a dry or medium dry craft cider rather than wine with this - but you could equally well drink a full flavoured smooth white like a chenin blanc, white Côte du Rhône or a good Soave.

VEGAN: Use shop-bought pastry (most brands are vegan) and sprinkle the caraway over it before blind baking; use plant-based cheese, butter and cream.

GF: Use GF flour or shop-bought gluten-free pastry sprinkled with caraway seeds.

SEASONAL SWAPS: Try Broccoli and Romanesco in place of the cauliflower.

Extracted from Vegetables by Mark Diacono published by Quadrille at £27. Photo © Mark Diacono. 

For other cauliflower pairings see this post.

 

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