Kale, squash and bacon pie
An autumnal comfort pie this one. The sauce is made with the cooking liquor from simmering a slab of streaky bacon.
Ingredients
For the pastry
- 175g/6oz butter, diced and chilled
- 380g/13oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 free-range egg, beaten to glaze
For the kale, squash and bacon pie filling
- 1kg/2lb 4oz slab cured streaky bacon (or smoked bacon)
- 2 sprigs tarragon
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 sticks celery, diced
- 1 bulb garlic, peeled and smashed
- 2 bay leaves
- chicken stock, to cover
- 1 butternut squash or small pumpkin, peeled, seeds removed and diced
- 1 large head kale, leaves stripped from the core and chopped
For the pie sauce
- dash oil
- 15g/½oz unsalted butter
- 1 leek, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 20²µ/¾´Ç³ú crème fraîche
- 1 tsp chopped tarragon
- 1 tbsp finely chopped curly leaf parsley
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
To make the pastry, blend the butter, flour and salt in a food processor to a breadcrumb consistency. Add 175ml/6fl oz of cold water to bind together as a dough. Wrap in cling film (or a reusable food grade wrap) and leave to chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
Once the pastry is chilled, roll out onto a flour-dusted work surface to about 3mm/â…›in thickness and line a 25cm/10in pie dish, reserve enough pastry for a lid. Wrap the remaining pastry and set aside.
To make the kale, squash and bacon pie filling, place the bacon into a pan with the tarragon, onion, celery, garlic and bay leaves. Cover with vegetable stock. Simmer gently for around 2–3 hours, or until the bacon is cooked so that it slips off a carving fork.
Simmer the squash in a pan covered in vegetable stock for about 30 minutes. Remove the squash from the pan using a slotted spoon and set aside. Blanch the kale in the same liquid for a few minutes, just to soften. Drain and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
To make the pie sauce, heat the oil in a pan, add the butter and fry the leek and garlic in some oil and butter until soft. Stir in the flour and gradually whisk in enough of the bacon cooking stock to make a sauce. Whisk in the Dijon mustard and crème fraîche. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and add the tarragon and parsley.
To assemble the pie, chop the bacon into pieces and mix with the kale and squash with the sauce in a bowl. Roll out the remaining pastry to make a lid. Fill the pie generously and cover with the lid, pressing into the sides of the dish to hold. Brush with the egg yolk, cut a hole in the top for steam to escape and bake for 30–40 minutes. Serve.
