Recipes, re-invented from cooking shows
Yorkshire Fettle Cheese and Vegetable Pies

Prep. Time:
Baking Time:
Total Time:
40 mins
50 mins
3 hours 20 mins
Serves:
Makes 6 individual pies
Abdul created this dish for Great British Bake Off ™ Series 13. Made under a Signature brief calling for seasonal, sustainably grown British ingredients, the pies replace Greek feta with Yorkshire Fettle, a crumbly ewe's-milk cheese hand-made in North Yorkshire. Prue praised the kick the herbs gave...
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Ingredients
FOR THE PASTRY: Plain flour 300 g Cold unsalted butter, diced 150 g Fine sea salt 3/4 tsp Egg yolk 1 Ice-cold water 2-3 tbsp Egg, beaten, to glaze 1
FOR THE FILLING:
Onion, finely diced 1 medium
Unsalted butter 25 g
Leeks, trimmed and finely sliced 2 medium (about 300 g)
Cornflour 1 tsp
Double cream 2 tbsp
Yorkshire Fettle (or another crumbly ewe's-milk salad cheese), crumbled 200 g
Rocket, roughly chopped 60 g
Fresh mint leaves, shredded 15 g (a generous handful)
Black pepper to taste
Salt (taste first - the cheese is already salty)
EQUIPMENT: Large mixing bowl
Cling film (Plastic Wrap)
Large frying pan or saute pan
Six-hole deep muffin tin or six individual straight-sided pie tins
Round cutters for bases and lids
Baking parchment
Baking tray
Wire rack
Method
STEP 1: MAKE THE PASTRY
Rub the cold diced butter into the plain flour and fine sea salt until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs, leaving a few flakes of butter visible. Mix the egg yolk with two tablespoons of the ice-cold water, stir it in, and bring the dough together with as little handling as it will allow, adding the last tablespoon of water only if the dough is dry. Flatten to a disc, wrap and chill for at least one hour.
STEP 2: SWEAT THE ONION AND LEEKS
Sweat the finely diced onion in the unsalted butter over a low heat until soft and translucent but not coloured, about eight minutes. Add the sliced leeks and a pinch of salt and continue for another ten to twelve minutes, until completely soft and any liquid has cooked away. A wet filling is what makes a soggy base.
STEP 3: COOL AND BIND THE VEGETABLES
Take the pan off the heat and let the vegetables cool to room temperature. Stir the cornflour through the double cream until smooth, then fold it into the cooled vegetables.
STEP 4: FOLD IN THE CHEESE AND HERBS
Fold in the crumbled Yorkshire Fettle, the chopped rocket and the shredded mint. Add the mint last and off the heat, so it stays raw and keeps its lift. Season with black pepper, then taste before adding any salt at all, as the cheese is already salty.
STEP 5: LINE THE TINS
Roll the chilled pastry to about 3 mm. Cut six bases and line six deep straight-sided individual tins or a six-hole muffin tin, leaving a small overhang. Cut six lids. Chill the lined tins for twenty minutes while the oven heats to 200C (180C fan, gas 6), with a baking tray inside.
STEP 6: BLIND BAKE THE CASES
Line the chilled cases with baking parchment and baking beans and bake on the hot tray for fifteen minutes, then remove the parchment and beans and bake for a further five minutes, until the base is dry and pale gold. This is the step that separates a crisp base from an undercooked one.
STEP 7: FILL AND LID THE PIES
Fill the cases generously and slightly domed. Brush the rims with beaten egg, seat the lids, press to seal, crimp the edges, and cut a small vent in each lid to let moisture escape. Glaze the tops with the remaining beaten egg.
STEP 8: BAKE
Bake on the hot tray for twenty-five to thirty minutes, until deep golden all over and firm underneath. Rest in the tins for ten minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and check the base colour before serving.
STEP 9: SERVE
Serve warm or at room temperature. They travel well, which was the brief.
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Instructions
FOR THE PASTRY:
Plain flour 300 g
Cold unsalted butter, diced 150 g
Fine sea salt 3/4 tsp
Egg yolk 1
Ice-cold water 2-3 tbsp
Egg, beaten, to glaze 1
FOR THE FILLING:
Onion, finely diced 1 medium
Unsalted butter 25 g
Leeks, trimmed and finely sliced 2 medium (about 300 g)
Cornflour 1 tsp
Double cream 2 tbsp
Yorkshire Fettle (or another crumbly ewe's-milk salad cheese), crumbled 200 g
Rocket, roughly chopped 60 g
Fresh mint leaves, shredded 15 g (a generous handful)
Black pepper to taste
Salt taste first - the cheese is already salty
EQUIPMENT:
Large mixing bowl
Cling film
Large frying pan or saute pan
Rolling pin
Six-hole deep muffin tin or six individual straight-sided pie tins
Round cutters for bases and lids
Baking parchment
Baking beans
Baking tray
Pastry brush
Wire rack

Heading 5
Ingredients
STEP 1: MAKE THE PASTRY
Rub the cold diced butter into the plain flour and fine sea salt until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs, leaving a few flakes of butter visible. Mix the egg yolk with two tablespoons of the ice-cold water, stir it in, and bring the dough together with as little handling as it will allow, adding the last tablespoon of water only if the dough is dry. Flatten to a disc, wrap and chill for at least one hour.
STEP 2: SWEAT THE ONION AND LEEKS
Sweat the finely diced onion in the unsalted butter over a low heat until soft and translucent but not coloured, about eight minutes. Add the sliced leeks and a pinch of salt and continue for another ten to twelve minutes, until completely soft and any liquid has cooked away. A wet filling is what makes a soggy base.
STEP 3: COOL AND BIND THE VEGETABLES
Take the pan off the heat and let the vegetables cool to room temperature. Stir the cornflour through the double cream until smooth, then fold it into the cooled vegetables.
STEP 4: FOLD IN THE CHEESE AND HERBS
Fold in the crumbled Yorkshire Fettle, the chopped rocket and the shredded mint. Add the mint last and off the heat, so it stays raw and keeps its lift. Season with black pepper, then taste before adding any salt at all, as the cheese is already salty.
STEP 5: LINE THE TINS
Roll the chilled pastry to about 3 mm. Cut six bases and line six deep straight-sided individual tins or a six-hole muffin tin, leaving a small overhang. Cut six lids. Chill the lined tins for twenty minutes while the oven heats to 200C (180C fan, gas 6), with a baking tray inside.
STEP 6: BLIND BAKE THE CASES
Line the chilled cases with baking parchment and baking beans and bake on the hot tray for fifteen minutes, then remove the parchment and beans and bake for a further five minutes, until the base is dry and pale gold. This is the step that separates a crisp base from an undercooked one.
STEP 7: FILL AND LID THE PIES
Fill the cases generously and slightly domed. Brush the rims with beaten egg, seat the lids, press to seal, crimp the edges, and cut a small vent in each lid to let moisture escape. Glaze the tops with the remaining beaten egg.
STEP 8: BAKE
Bake on the hot tray for twenty-five to thirty minutes, until deep golden all over and firm underneath. Rest in the tins for ten minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and check the base colour before serving.
STEP 9: SERVE
Serve warm or at room temperature. They travel well, which was the brief.
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