Savoury Pies

I’ve been on a bit of a pie kick lately. I think I mentioned that when I showed you a picture of the delicious shepherd’s pie that I gobbled up at the Angel Inn in Niagara-on-the-Lake last weekend.

Who says that the British can’t cook? I’d take a savoury pie over a plate of the best Italian pasta any day of the week, especially if that weekday falls in the middle of winter. Pies are the ultimate winter comfort food. It’s not surprising that they’re a hit at the pubs in the cold, wet British Isles.

Here is a link up to pies I’ve recently made and pies I want to make.

Kate and Will’s Wedding Pie

from Jamie Oliver

This pie is the ultimate. It has beef. It has beer. It has barley. It has a generous amount of cheddar cheese. For me, the barley really made the pie. For Matt it was the cheese.

I made this pie back in November and fell deeply and madly in love. It takes several hours to make so it’s definitely a Sunday afternoon kind of dish, but it is so, so worth every minute.

Next time I will use my own recipe for the pie crust because I didn’t think Jamie’s was quite as flaky as I wanted.

Chickpea Pot Pie with Cornbread Crust

from PreventionRD

This is a easy-to-make, vegetarian alternative to the meat heavy pies that I’m used to. Compared to other pies, this one is not very high in calories but is still really flavourful.
If you make the cornbread crust using coarse cornmeal (ie. polenta) like I did, definitely soak the cornmeal first. I found that the cornbread ended up a bit drier than I would have liked.

Rumbledethumps

from Undiscovered Scotland

I thought that colcannon was my favourite food until I learned to bake it in the oven with a layer of cheese on top to make rumbledethumps. Why didn’t I think of this before? It’s genius! And positively delicious.

So this isn’t quite a pie, per se, but it’s good. Just shut up and eat it.

Mushroom Parmentier

from French Food at Home

Parmentier is the fancy French name for shepherd’s pie and, true to French cuisine, this dish really is much fancier than it’s British cousin. This is my go-to pie recipe. It’s easy to make and tastes phenomenal and it’s one of Matt’s favourite dishes too. The filling has some of my favourite flavours all mixed together: mushrooms, red wine, and thyme.

Spring Lamb Shepherd’s Pie

from Jamie Oliver

I made this recipe using ground beef instead of lamb, so I guess I really made a cottage pie. I grew up eating a dry shepherd’s pie so I was surprised that the filling of this pie had more of a gravy consistency. Little did I know that the shepherd’s pie I’ve eaten all my life has been wrong. I liked this recipe and I’ll make it again. But first, I want to try this next recipe to see which is better:

Perfect Cottage Pie

from The Guardian

According to The Guardian, the perfect cottage pie includes beef shin minced at home (not ground beef) cooked with carrots, celery, and onion in a simple sauce of stock, Worcestershire sauce and thyme thickened with cornstarch. To get that nice crispy potato crust you dollop the mash on top of the filling in in lumps and dot it with small pieces knobs of butter.

You know when anything is called “perfect” I’m going to make it just to verify that it’s the truth. This is next up on my list of pies to make.

Blue Cheese Crusted Beef Stout Pie

from Three Many Cooks

I just came across this recipe last week. I’m particularly intrigued by the blue cheese crust. Traditionally I would think that cheddar would be best, but the idea of a flavour as strong as blue cheese to complement the hearty beef sounds amazing. Although this pie loses points in my book because there’s no barley in it like Kate and Will’s wedding pie.

Related Posts:

• How to Make a Perfect Pie Crust
• Flaky Walnut Butter Tarts
• Apple Pie Squares