Ham, Leek and Potato Pie

I had a lovely New Year, I hope you did too. And, for once, I didn’t have a raging all day hangover, so cooking dinner was a breeze. I made roast ham, nothing very interesting or novel about that, even if it was delish and paired perfectly with my garden vegetable bake, which you can find here: http://range-warfare.blogspot.com/2008/09/green-garden-veg-pie.html

The ham leftovers, however, proved to be much more interesting, especially this Ham, Leek and Potato Pie, which I came across here:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8812/ham-leek-and-potato-pie

I only made one or two slight adjustments to the recipe, and I’ve translated from metric/centigrade for my American friends.

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but hubby has a penchant for pies, and this one was definitely love at first bite. I’m pretty sure it will be making a return appearance to our dinner table in the not too distant future. Trust me, you’re gonna love this one, it’s sublime.

Ham, Leek, and Potato Pie




Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 leeks, finely sliced
2 large potatoes, cut into small cubes
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup ham stock/broth, or use chicken
Black pepper, to taste
½ cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons ground mustard
2 cups cooked ham, diced
1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, beaten or milk to glaze

Directions:

• Melt butter in a large skillet over a medium/low heat, add onion and leeks and sauté for 5 minutes. Add potatoes, cover pan and cook for a further 5 minutes.
• Add flour to skillet, and gradually add stock, season with pepper, and stir constantly until slightly thickened.
• Remove pan from heat and stir in cream, mustard, and ham. Allow mix to cool for 10-15 minutes before spooning into a baking dish. While mixture cools, heat oven to 400°F.
• Roll out pastry, brush edges of dish with beaten egg or milk. Slap the pastry on the dish, press down edges, trim any excess. Brush pastry with beaten egg or milk, and cut 2 slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
• Bung pie in oven for approx. 30 minutes until crust has risen and is golden brown.

Serve with seasonal veggies. We had buttered, peppered cabbage, it was absolutely scrummy.