Creamy Vegetable Pie – A Split Dish

Creamy Vegetable Pie – A Split Dish

With the weather turning particularly cold here it’s time for pie but I refuse to make two meals so here’s another split dish where I start with the same ingredients but split them and add meat for me and something veggie for The Viking.

Any vegetables work, so use what you’ve got, split evenly between two pie dishes. I’ve added veggie sausages for him and chicken thighs for me and they get a good roasting whilst we make the real star of the show, this luscious, all in one, creamy, cheesy sauce.

Milk, flour and butter go in at the same time and you whisk until it thickens, then add mustard and any of the cheeses that still survive from the fridge.

Then you pour it into the two pies and top with pastry shapes. Weirdly all the incredible sauce was sucked up by the pastry but my word did they taste good.

For the pies:

• 4 shallots – halved
• 2 field mushrooms – thickly sliced
• 1 leek – roughly chopped
• 2 carrots – roughly chopped
• 1 cauliflower – chopped into florettes
• Chicken thighs for me – chopped into bitesize chunks
• Veggie sausages for him – thickly sliced
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh rosemary and thyme

For the cheesy sauce:

• 500ml whole milk
• 50g flour
• 50g butter
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 100g strong cheddar cheese – finely grated
• 50g brie – chopped

You will also need 2 sheets of ready rolled puff pastry cut into shapes – I used a small, fluted cookie cutter for one pie and cut small squares for the second pie. I brushed them with egg wash before laying them onto the pie top.

You will also need two equally sized pie dishes.

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C (160ºC fan/350°F/Gas 4)

Spit the veg between the two dishes, add the veggie sausages to one and the chicken thighs to the other. Season well with salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil on them both. (A little more on the one with veggie sausages.)

Roast in the oven for 35 – 40 mins until they are nice and roasted, turning halfway.

Meanwhile make the all-in-one sauce. In a large pan on a medium heat, add the milk, flour and butter at the same time and whisk regularly until it thickens. Once gloriously thick, turn the heat low and allow it to cook gently for 4 minutes. Stir in the mustard and cheeses and a little salt and pepper to taste.

Remove the pie tins from the oven and pour the sauce over them, dividing it evenly between the two pies. Top the pies with overlapping pastry shapes and bake for 25 mins or until the pastry is golden and crispy.

Serve with a green vegetable of choice and some little baby roasties.

For more pie ideas, check these out on Dom in the Kitchen

Eat and of course, enjoy!