Homity Pie

Homity Pie

Make up a batch of ‘rich pastry’: See below, or use whatever pastry you fancy. Ready made Filo works well and this is what is shown in the photo. Alternatively forget the pastry and sprinkle with breadcrumbs and parmesan. Voila…Homity Crumble!

Peel, cube (dice size) and slowly fry 1 pound of potatoes in olive oil until soft and browned. New potatoes stick a bit but are still nice. Peel, finely slice and fry 1 pound of onions until soft and browned. Add 2 sliced garlic cloves to the onions near to the end of their cooking time. Fry up a pack of “Cubetti di Pancetta” (pancetta) – easy to find in shops with deli meat.

All of the above can be done in advance like I show on the blog page.

To the veggie/pancetta mixture, add a small bunch of fresh chopped herbs: marjoram, thyme, that sort of thing. Add plenty of salt and pepper, 2 really big pinches of each. Stir in a small carton of double cream (100-150 ml). Take off the heat. Stir in 2 ounces of grated cheese.

Pour the filling mix into your baked pastry in the pie dish (or just a plain oven proof pie dish if you don’t want the pastry). Add another 2 ounces of cheese on top.

Cook in a hottish oven (180-190 C) for 25-30 minutes until golden. Allow to cool for half an hour before you eat. It’s great for picnics too.

‘Rich Pastry’

Put 180 g of flour in a bowl (I use a mix of 1/2 plain flour and 1/2 wholemeal). Mix in 100 g butter. Add 50 g grated parmesan and a pinch of salt. Add some stripped thyme leaves if you have them. Then add 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon of water gradually to bring it into a ball. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 20 minutes then roll out into a pie shape. Butter a pie dish and line it with rolled out pastry with a good overhang as it will shrink a lot.

Prong it with a fork and bake it for 10-15 mins on 200 degrees C. I find that I don’t need to do the baking beans thing if I use wholemeal flour or a mix of the two.