The Pie Edit

What makes a pie a pie? (This week's recipes: Salmon Spanakopita, Chicken Bake & Fish Pie)

A ludicrously broad category, it should be its own food group. I suppose we can start with the Oxford dictionary definition: “a baked dish of fruit, or meat and vegetables, typically with a top and base of pastry.”

Enter stage: pot pies. A gloriously shortcut version of a pastry encased pie where the filling is baked in a dish topped with just a lid of pastry.

If a pastry lid doesn’t cut it, where do we draw the line between a pork pie (a meat filling baked within, typically, hot water crust pastry) and a Cornish pasty (a meat & potato filling baked within a puff pastry casing.) When does a pie become a pasty?

So, must pastry be present in some form to constitute a pie?

Let’s, for a moment, think about “pie” in New York; the term widely used for pizza. And what about cottage/shepherds pie where pastry is subbed by mashed potato atop a beef or lamb mince filling.

Many countries around the world exhibit some form of pie-like creation - Spanish empanadas, Turkish burek, Jamaican patties, Chinese bao?

I’m sure you’ll agree, if you’re still reading, that this is the kind of investigative journalism we need more of!

Here is a trio of pies I’ve made this week that, I think, well-covers many of the lesser recognised characteristics of a pie.

Salmon Spanakopita

I truly think that this Greek spinach pie wrapped in layers of crispy, flakey filo pastry is a true thing of beauty. Fragrant herbs, salty, tangy feta & warming nutmeg are such a beautiful flavour profile, all perfect pairings with a piece of fish. I’ve kept things pretty straightforward here but added some flaked salmon to the filling, which is entirely optional, I just fancied trying it out!

FULL RECIPE

Ingredients (serves 6-8)

600g fresh spinach

1 leek - finely sliced

3 spring onions - finely sliced

20g each of dill, parsley & mint - all finely chopped

300g feta - crumbled

2 eggs - beaten

1/4 whole nutmeg - grated

1 lemon - zested

2 fillets of salmon

6-7 sheets of filo pastry

Plenty of olive oil - ideally in a spray bottle, but you can use a brush if not

Method:

Start by roughly chopping through all of the spinach. Put it into a large blender, add a large pinch of salt and massage through all the leaves giving them a good scrunch. Leave to wilt.

Sweat your sliced leek in a frying pan in some olive oil until softened. Remove and add to a large bowl along with the spring onions, fresh herbs, feta, lemon zest, nutmeg and give that a good mix before mixing in the 2 beaten eggs. No need to season this as the feta is salty and the spinach has been salted.

For the salmon, if using, season your fillets with salt, pepper and some olive oil and bake in a 180C fan oven for 12-15 minutes until just cooked. Remove and set aside.

Take your spinach a handful at a time from the colander squeezing out as much moisture as you can and add to the bowl of leeks etc. Mix everything really well and set aside.

Take a baking dish (roughly 30x25cm) and spray or brush well with olive oil. Lay the first sheet of filo down, spray again until you have 3 sheets layered on the bottom with any excess pastry hanging over the edges. Spoon in the filling until you have an even layer. Take your roasted salmon fillets and flake apart with your hands over the top. Take the next layer of filo and drape on top, spray with oil then repeat until you have 3 layers. Take the excess pastry from the edges and fold them inwards.

Bake in the oven at 180C for 45 minutes until deeply golden. Remove from the dish (it should be baked all the way around so that you can slide it out with a spatula) then slice up and serve straight away. Delicious eaten hot, warm or even room temperature.

Chicken Bake

An iconic British foodstuff made popular by Greggs, a fast-food bakery staple. Probably better defined as a pasty than a pie, strictly speaking, but delicious nonetheless, and pretty easy to put together.

FULL RECIPE

Ingredients (makes 2)

1 chicken breast - cubed into 1cm pieces

1 onion - diced

30g butter

30g flour

300ml chicken stock

50ml double cream

1/4 nutmeg - grated

1 tsp dried tarragon

Salt & pepper

1 sheet - ready rolled puff pastry

1 egg - to glaze

Method:

Start by making the filling. Sweat the onion in the butter for 10 minutes until well softened. Add the chicken pieces and cook for 5 minutes. Add the flour into the pan and mix well for 2 minutes. Off the heat, add in the stock little by little stirring all the time until you have a thick sauce. Put it back on the heat for 2-3 minutes and it will thicken further. Add the cream and season with salt, pepper, nutmeg and tarragon. Tip into a bowl and cool completely.

For the pastry, roll out the sheet to thin it slightly then cut into 4 rectangles, ideally 2 slightly larger than the other 2 (the 2 larger will be the top piece). It doesn’t need to be exact as we’ll trim them down later.

On the 2 smaller rectangles spoon a little of the mixture leaving a 1cm border of pastry. Egg wash the border then place the larger rectangle over the top. With your hands, seal around the edge making sure to expell any air. Crimp along the edges with a fork to seal, egg wash the whole thing then bake at 180C for 15-20 mins until puffed up and golden brown.

Leave to cool slightly then tuck straight in!

Fish Pie (BONUS recipe of the week!)

I’m a huge fan of fish pie! My favourite things to add are a smoked fish (like haddock), an oily fish (like salmon) and a shellfish element (like prawns).

I’m a huge fan of fish pie! My favourite things to add are a smoked fish (like haddock), an oily fish (like salmon) and a shellfish element (like prawns).

Topped with creamy mash and, potentially controversial, grated cheddar. There are dozens of ways to make a fish pie so, at the very least, I hope this inspires you to make something even remotely similar, because it’s a beautifully comforting meal to eat.

So let’s get into it!

FULL RECIPE…