Say Cheese! Cheese, Onion and Potato Pie Recipe for British Pie Week (2024)

Say Cheese! Cheese, Onion and Potato Pie Recipe

British Pie Week

Everyone knows the old English rhyme “Simple Simon” and his pies, and I have to confess to being a bit of an extreme pie addict! There are extreme sportsmen (and women) as well as other professions where extreme comes into play, but an extreme pie person? Why not!So, what better opportunity is there then to make a pie for British Pie Week, it seems like a jolly good week to celebrate and bring on the pies is what I say! I have several pie recipes on Lavender and Lovage, if you would like to peruse them (with a view to making one) then here is a handy link to all my “under cover” recipes: Lavender and Lovage Pie Recipes. There are sweet ones, savoury ones, meaty ones, veggie ones, Wartime ration ones as well as festive ones……..there aretraditionalones as well as ones with an air of modernity about them. The word pie issimplya magic word that conjures updeliciousimages for me. (yes, I know, that’s trèssad!)

Simple Simon met a pieman going to the fair;
Said Simple Simon to the pieman “Let me taste your ware”
Said the pieman to Simple Simon “Show me first your penny”
Said Simple Simon to the pieman “Sir, I have not any!”

Simple Simon went a-fishing for to catch a whale;
All the water he had got was in his mother’s pail.
Simple Simon went to look ifplumsgrew on a thistle;
He pricked his fingers very much which made poor Simon whistle.
He went for water in a sieve but soon it all fell through;
And now poor Simple Simonbidsyou all “Adieu”

My pie offering is a bit of a stunner, well we think so in the Lavender and Lovage household! It’s a simple and traditional British style pie packed to the pastry rafters with mature Cheddar cheese,fluffymashed potatoes, cream cheese and freshly grated onions.It’s baked in a British pie dish, that was very kindly sent to me from the lovely PR ladieswho look after Mermaid Cookware, and is made fromHard Anodised Aluminium with a LIFETIME guarantee! The MermaidRound Pie Dish I was sent is a generous(8 x 1½”) in diameter and depth and my pie just SLID out on serving it.Ideal for baking crumbles and sweet or savoury pies, this Pie Dish allows four to six generous portions, and I did indeed manage to get six delectable slices of my “Say Cheese”pie from this pie dish. I give this pie dish a BIG thumbs up for its anti-stick qualities, style and that fact it’s made in Britain with a lifetimeguarantee.

Not only is this new pie recipe of mine tasty, but I like to think that it brings a bit of humour to the table too with its cheesy quotes in pastry letters!I made a batch of my mum’s shortcrust pastry for this pie, it’s a simple Be-Ro basic shortcrust recipe made with 8 ounces (225g) of flour with white vegetable fat (Trex) and margarine (Stork) in equal quantities to make up a total weight of 4 ounces (115g) of fat. I am quite proud of my pastry, as Iapparentlyhave a “light” hand and it always comes outcrispy light and flaky with a lovely short crumb. (My mum taught me how to make pastry and hers is amazing, so I suppose mine has to be fairly good!)

I served my “Say Cheese” pie with some fresh salad as well as some home-made Farmhouse Windfall Chutney that I made a couple of years ago; it’s wonderfully mellow now with spiced plum and pear flavours running through it, and I will share the recipe later on this year. You might have noticed thelovelybluedinnerplates, well they are part of a wonderful 70 piece dinner, tea and breakfast service IreceivedthisweekfromChurchillChina, with whom I will be working with from now on; the pattern is called Penzance, and I will be writing a full post all about my partnership with Churchill China this weekend.

But, back to my pie! This pie was made, baked and on the table in a little over three-quarters of an hour. It’s a real simple Simon kind of pie, with good quality ingredients and home-made pastry. By all means use ready-made pastry if time is REALLY at a premium, but although I tend to buy flaky or puff pastry, I nearly always make my own shortcrust pastry. The recipe for my Say Cheese Pie issharedbelow, and Icansee this being an all year recipe for family tea, supper, light lunch, picnics, lunch boxes and casual dinner parties around the kitchen table. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did if you make it, and so let me know by leaving a comment below. I’ll see you later with more NEW recipes to share, including recipes for fish, the 5:2 diet and some baked treats for Mothering Sunday too, Karen

Disclaimer: With thanks to Mermaid Cookware who sent me a free pie dish to use and review; allopinionsare my own and I was notrequiredto write a positivereview. Karen S Burns-Booth