Swede, onion and cheese pie

Name: Swede, onion and cheese pie
Total time: 2 h
Ingredients: 250g of self-raising flour; 125g of suet, vegetarian or traditional; 1 egg; 60ml of water; 60ml of milk, plus extra to glaze the pie with; 1 pinch of salt; 1 swede, weighing approx. 800g; 3 onions, peeled and thinly sliced; 3 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked; 80g of butter; 250g of Lancashire cheese, coarsely grated; salt; freshly ground black pepper

by Anna Tobias

Item 1 of 1

Main
medium
4
2 hours

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A swede pie recipe might not sound like the most exciting thing in the world, but Anna Tobias does the root vegetable justice by pairing it with softly cooked onions and bold Lancashire cheese. Take a look at Anna's other swede recipes here.

First published in 2019

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I can say in all honesty that this is one of the most delicious things I’ve cooked in a long while. The flavour combinations are excellent – bitter swede, sweet onions and salty cheese. And most things are improved by being wrapped in pastry so it’s a winner.

Alternative suggestion: the swede can be substituted with your root vegetable of choice, or indeed a mixture of roots. After Christmas this year I made a multi-root pie and threw in some leftover ham ends. It is an accommodating pie.

Serves four hungry people, or six less hungry people.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Pastry

250g of self-raising flour
125g of suet, vegetarian or traditional
1 egg
60ml of water
60ml of milk, plus extra to glaze the pie with
1 pinch of salt

Filling

1 swede, weighing approx. 800g
3 onions, peeled and thinly sliced
3 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked
80g of butter
250g of Lancashire cheese, coarsely grated
salt
freshly ground black pepper

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Method

Start by making the pastry. Place the flour, suet and salt in a bowl and mix together. In a separate jug, beat the egg with the milk and water

Add half the milk mixture to the flour and mix with your hands. Keep adding the milk mixture until the flour comes together in a ball (you may not need all the milk). The dough wants to be soft and pliable but not wet. Wrap and place in the fridge while you make the filling

Pre-heat an oven to 160°/gas mark 3

Melt the butter with a splash of oil in a saucepan and add the onions and thyme. Season and sweat gently for 15–20 minutes, until unctuous and soft

As the onions cook, peel the swede, slice in half lengthwise and then cut into slices the thickness of a pound coin (use a mandoline if you have one)

Add the swede to the onions and cook together for 5 minutes to allow the flavours to mingle and start cooking the swede. Season with salt and very generously with pepper (swede loves pepper). Leave to cool

Roll out two-thirds of the pastry 0.5cm thick and line a greased pie tin roughly 20cm in diameter

Place one-third of the swede mix into the pastry case, ensuring the pieces of swede are laid flat, then strew with one-third of the cheese. Repeat until all the ingredients are used up, creating defined layers

Roll the remaining pastry out into a disc. Dampen the edges of the pastry and top the pie. Trim the edges and then crimp to form a good seal

Make a small hole in the centre of the pie with a skewer or small knife and brush the top with milk

Place in the oven on a tray and bake for an hour. At this point, take your skewer and insert it through the hole in the pie. If the skewer enters with no resistance then the swede is cooked and the pie is ready. If not, replace in the oven and keep checking until cooked through

Allow the pie to sit for a good 20 minutes before slicing and serving

First published in 2019

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Anna Tobias

Previously guest head chef at East London favourite P. Franco, Anna Tobias has built a career on simple but effective cookery.

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