At the Cirencester Farmers’ Market on Saturday I bought a whole bag of Jerusalem artichokes from the Duchy Organic’s Home Farm vegetable stall. I could not believe these prized and beautiful tubers were being given away for free with any other purchase. Once home, the Gloucestershire mud was scraped right off them and they were used to make this simple, homely pie. The recipe is taken from an old Italian family cookbook that contains many a savoury “crostata” or “torta” across the seasons. Vegetable pies are so good as antipasti, or as a picnic feast. The name Jerusalem artichoke bears no relation whatsoever to the capital of Israel, as the plant is, in fact, a relative of the sunflower genus, and the name “girasole”, or sunflower in Italian, was over time changed to “Jerusalem”.
Ingredients to serve 4 people as a starter
Ingredients for the pie pastry
400g. plain flour
sea salt
5 tbsps. olive oil
120 ml. cold water
Ingredients for the pie filling
250g. Jerusalem artichokes, washed, trimmed and sliced into small pieces (I do not peel mine)
1 leek, washed trimmed, and sliced into small pieces
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 waxy potatoes, peeled and chopped into small pieces
25 g butter
extra olive oil
sea salt and black pepper
200g grated Parmiggiano Reggiano
1 egg, beaten, to make egg wash
Method
1. Firstly make the pastry. Mix the flour with a little sea salt in a bowl. Mix in all the olive oil and enough water to make a dough disc. Clingfilm and chill the dough disc for at least an hour.
2. Take a large saute pan, heat the butter with a little olive oil and pan fry the leek, onion, potato and Jerusalem artichoke pieces till soft. I add just a little water, sea salt and a baking parchment cartouche cover, so that the vegetables steam away to softness. At the end of the cooking time, approximately 20 minutes, all the vegetables should be completely soft but there should be no moisture left over. Mix in the grated Parmiggiano, taste for seasoning, and set the pie filling aside while you roll the pastry.
3. Butter a 20 cm. pie dish and heat the oven to 190 degrees C. Cut the cold pastry in half and roll both halves to a diameter wide enough to line and cover the pie dish with some overhang. Use one half of the rolled pastry to line the bottom of the buttered pie dish, leaving the overhang round the sides. Fill the pie with the filling and then brush the edges of the pastry with beaten egg. Place the pastry lid on top, and using your fingers press down the edges so that the pie is completely sealed. Using a sharp knife cut away any overhanging pastry. You can cut decorations from the left-over pastry with a cookie cutter (I used heart shapes). Brush the top of the pie with egg wash, then decorate if you wish with extra pastry shapes. Cut 3 or 4 very small slits through the pie pastry lid, so that the steam can escape during baking.
4. Place the pie dish on a baking tray, and bake the pie in the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes. The pie may need turning at half time as the browning at the back may be too intense, whilst the front remains pale. After 30 minutes the whole pie pastry top should be a crispy, golden brown colour. Place the pie, still in its pie dish, on a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.
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