Cheesy Vegetable Potato Pies
A Cheesy Vegetable Potato Pie is ultimate springtime comfort food. Each individual pie is colourful, satisfyingly substantial, deliciously cheesy and manages to artfully bridge the gap between hearty winter food and summer salads.
Servings: 4 People
Ingredients
Vegetables
- 250 g/ 9 oz Fresh Spinach
- 350 g/ 12 oz Broccoli
- 200 g/ 7 oz Peas (defrosted) see notes
Cheese Sauce
- 500 ml/ 2 cups Whole (Full fat) Milk
- 4 tablespoon Plain (all purpose) flour
- 40 g/ 1 ½ oz Butter
- 80 g/ 3 oz Parmesan cheese (finely grated)
- 80 g/ 3 oz Mature (sharp) cheddar (finely grated)
- 2 teaspoon American yellow mustard
Potato Topping
- 1 kg/ 2 lb 3 oz Potatoes (suitable for mashing) See notes
- 80 g/ 3 oz Cheddar cheese (grated)
- 40 g/ 1 ½ oz Parmesan cheese (grated)
- 1 ½ teaspoon American yellow mustard
- 4 tablespoon Creme fraiche
- 2 tablespoon Breadcrumbs
Instructions
Prepare the Vegetables
- Chop the broccoli into small florets and dice the stems then drop into a large pan of (salted) boiling salted and cook for 3 minutes
- Drain & refresh under cold water
- Wilt the spinach (I cooked mine in a covered bowl in the microwave for 1.5 minutes). Drain and squeeze out the liquid, then chop finely
- Mix the defrosted peas, spinach and broccoli together and set aside
Make the Cheese Sauce
- Cube the butter and put into a medium saucepan with the milk and flour
- Place the pan over a medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the sauce is smooth and thick (beat with a balloon whisk if the flour needs breaking down)
- Take off the heat and add the cheeses, mustard and seasoning (to taste). Stir until the cheese is completely melted and thoroughly combined
- Add the prepared vegetables and toss to coat them in the sauce, then divide the mixture between 4 pie dishes
Make the Potato Topping
- Preheat oven to 180C/ 350F/ GM 4
- Peel & chop the potatoes and cook in boiling water until tender, then mash
- Stir in the cheeses, followed by the creme fraiche, mustard and some seasoning to taste
- Share the mashed potato between the pies and spread out to cover the filling (I piped mine for a neat look, but it's fine to use a fork to spread it out)
- Scatter the breadcrumbs over the potato, put the pies onto a baking sheet (to catch any overflowing sauce) and bake for 30-40 minutes until the topping is golden
- Serve with a simple green salad
Notes
If using fresh peas cook them with the broccoli.
Don't forget, you can bake your potatoes, slit them open, scoop out the flesh and proceed to mash them instead of boiling peeled potatoes in a pan.
This recipe can be made in advance. Once the pies are assembled, let cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until ready to cook. They will need 40-45 minutes from chilled.