Leek, broccoli and stilton pie

Just before Christmas, I was talking with a Polish colleague about mince pies. They had those awful store-bought things in the office, which Angelika apparently liked, trying them that day for the first time.

So we got to talking about Proper (i.e. how my grandma made them) mince pies and the other Christmas things I do and I should give her my recipes.

Sure, I said, and pointed her to this place, with the caveat that the recipes she were after weren’t actually here yet, but I would write them up, soon, promise.

This is not that story.

It is however the story of how I used up some of the second batch of Christmas puff pastry I made (the first batch having been (a) wrapped around sausage meat and mincemeat, and (b) inexplicably scoffed by my guests). So in a way, this recipe is a way to remind myself to keep my promise to Angelika.

Jenny has been looking meaningfully at soufflé recipes since Christmas, and although I’d like to try to make some, our ladies aren’t very productive at this time of year and we don’t have many eggs. But (as above) I did have some leftover puff pastry in the freezer, and thought I should do something with the leeks and the stilton sitting in the fridge—and the head of broccoli I’d bought for the purpose.

First, I sliced the two leeks into thinnish (but not too thin) discs and started to gently sauté them in a Jamie of butter. I added some Colman’s mustard powder and salt and black pepper, and when the leeks had started to soften, a couple of spoonfuls of plain flour. Then I stirred in some milk as if making a béchamel sauce, some vegetable bouillon, and a good helping of double cream (about the same volume as the full-fat milk). Meanwhile I was boiling the chopped broccoli for 5 minutes.

I stirred in a block (~1/3 lb) of chopped stilton (we had a packet of Long Clawson so I used that, but you can use whichever stilton you prefer), and let it warm through without boiling.

I lined a large pie tin with pastry, although again this is optional and next time I might just make a pie-that’s-really-a-stew-with-a-pastry-lid. I combined the drained broccoli with the stilton sauce, stirred briefly and tipped the lot into the pie tin. Covered with a layer of pastry, sealed the edges and baked at 200ºC fan for 20 minutes. No egg glaze on this, for the reason given earlier.

For added colour and interest I served it with sweet potato mash and garden peas.

“Do this again,” Jenny said.