Pies of Promise, Pies of Potential...
Broccoli and Cheddar Mascarpone Pie, feat the air fryer on everyone's lips...
There are some things we can do that always make us feel better, and I believe making pie is one of them. This week’s recipe is Broccoli and Cheddar Mascarpone Pie featuring not one but two cheeses, because cheese in a pie is the glue that keeps everything together. I wanted to make broccoli the star it deserves to be. Further down I’m giving my two pence on the closing of “the world’s best restaurant”…
There is no pride to be had in going against the tide. Or at least as far as air fryers are concerned. Waves have been going in their direction for a while now, and though many will continue to resist their allure or label them a fad, the fact is they are just great. My boyfriend’s Mum got me one for Christmas, and we haven’t stopped using it since.
More like a mini counter-top oven, I love the air fryer because it’s cheaper to use (of course), but mostly because it shortens the time of cooking all the best things: roast potatoes, sausages, aubergine, broccoli, the list goes on forever… In this week’s recipe I’ve given an option to use the air fryer or the oven in part. I don’t mean to mislead you, I’m not cooking the whole pie in the basket, but by roasting our broccoli and potato in it, it makes this a speedy dinner. I’ll be sharing more 100% air fryer recipes lickity split, don’t you worry about that.
With this pie, I have taken inspiration from the Italian torta, because not all pies need be constructed with the same pastry! This one is made with half olive oil, half butter, for a smooth, thinner and more dense dough that holds the cheesy filling very well. I didn’t want the broccoli in a classic white sauce either, that would be a waste of a good pie in my opinion.
I first tried the filling with egg whipped into the mascarpone, but it ended up kind of like a reverse quiche and not in a way that I liked. I also rolled the pastry out far too thickly another time, so though tasty, it was a real molar-exerciser. Which is to say, it’s important to roll this pastry out much thinner than you would a shortcrust because you don’t want the denser, biscuity casing to overwhelm the filling. I’ve added potato for substance, and the Cheddar mascarpone creates our sauce with just a hit of the blender so we don’t need to faff with floury roux and other such ‘cuisine fine’.
Broccoli and Cheddar Mascarpone Pie
For the pastry
380 g plain flour
50g butter, cubed
90 ml olive oil
120ml cold water
1 beaten egg to glaze (or use mascarpone)
For the filling
1 large head broccoli, cut into medium sized florets, stalks included
1 leek, white part only, sliced into thin rounds
1 potato, peeled and cubed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tub mascarpone
150g Cheddar cheese
1 handful fresh tarragon, chopped or 1 tsp dried tarragon (or use thyme if you don’t like tarragon)
Zest of ½ a lemon
Make the pastry: combine the flour with a pinch of salt, add the butter then use your thumbs and forefingers to rub it together into breadcrumbs. Add the oil and cold water and bring everything together to form a dough. This should smell a hell of a lot fruitier than your usual pastry. Knead it gently on a work surface until it's smooth, about 2 minutes. Wrap it well in clingfilm and rest it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 180°c. Season and toss the broccoli florets and cubed potato in oil, then roast on a tray for 15 minutes (or air fry both for 6 minutes - you might need to do them separately depending on the size of your air fryer).
Meanwhile, on a medium heat, sweat the leek in the olive oil with a pinch of salt for the same amount of time, stirring often. Place the Cheddar and mascarpone in a large container and use a stick blender to blend until you have a thick, luscious cream. If you need to, add a splash of milk to help the process along.
Add the slightly charred broccoli and the par-cooked potato to the pan with the leeks and cook for another minute or so, then take the pan off the heat and pour in the Cheddar mascarpone mixture, stirring well. Season with plenty of cracked black pepper, salt and the lemon zest. Stir in the chopped tarragon.
Grease your pie dish (mine was 20cm). Roll out ⅔ of the olive oil pastry into a circle about 3mm thick and big enough to line your pie dish - it’s important that you roll the pastry out to about this thickness so that it cooks evenly. Stab the pastry all over with a fork. Place in the tin and trim off any excess (why not make yourself a little mini tart with it?). Fill the pie with the filling then roll out the final ⅓ of pastry for the lid. Crimp with a fork to seal.
Glaze the pie with an egg wash then bake in the hot oven for about 30 minutes or until the pie is browned all over, brushing again with egg wash 5 minutes before it’s finished cooking. Allow the pie to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
The closing of Noma
I really don’t feel anything at all about the closing of “the world’s best restaurant” Noma, except that it must be the right decision because no meal should cost over £600 per head.
There was a time, about 10 years ago, when this kind of fine dining interested me - the thrill of the theatre and the sense of occasion. I saved up and splurged occasionally because somehow at 19 I had more disposable income than I do now, just shy of 30. But as the world has grown progressively more and more fucked, my curiosity in it as a genre of cooking has reduced to zero.
No shade to any chefs here, whose skills I admire. But no more than I admire the skills of any other food industry worker, if you get what I’m saying. And any restaurant which only just started paying its interns last year is not one I’d like to visit. One man’s reindeer tartare is another man’s Gregg’s sausage roll.
Until next week!