My first homity pie was at Caudwells Mill, it was absolutely  delicious…the perfect comfort food! So when I saw this delicious looking homity pie, made by FP club member Claire (aka Domestic Goddess), I just had to include it on the blog.  

Over to Claire…

This is my version of the lovely, originally vegetarian pie. I could not resist adding pancetta as it adds a great extra flavour but I am sure it would work without.

I have had a couple of quiche based disasters recently. I can’t seem to get them to be quite the right consistency and it can all go horribly wrong. With a Homity though, there is no need to worry about that as there is nothing to ’set’ as such. Try it!

Homity Pie

• Make up a batch of ‘rich pastry’ – see below, refrigerate for 20 mins then roll out
• Butter a pie dish and line it with rolled out pastry with a good overhang as it will shrink, a lot
• Prong it with a fork and blind bake it for 10-15 mins on 200 degrees

I find that I don’t need to do the baking beans thing if I use wholemeal pastry

• Peel, cube (dice size) and slowly fry 1lb potatoes in olive oil until soft and browned, new potatoes stick a bit but are still nice
• Peel, finely slice and fry 1lb of onions until soft and browned
• Add 2 sliced garlic cloves to the onions near to the end of their cooking time
• Fry off a pack of cubetti di pancetta – easy to find in the shops with the deli meat

All of the above can be done in advance like this: 

 Mix all this together in a large pan on a very low heat to help you mix

• Add a small bunch of fresh chopped herbs: marjoram, thyme, that sort of thing
• Add plenty of salt and pepper, 2 really big pinches of each
• Stir in a small carton of double cream (100-150ml)
• Take off the heat
• Stir in 2oz mature grated cheese
• Pile into your blind baked pastry in the pie dish
• Add another 2oz cheese on top
• Cook in a hottish oven (180-190) for 25-30 mins until golden

Allow to cool for ½ an hour before you eat. It’s great for picnics too.

‘Rich Pastry’

Put 180g of flour in a bowl, I use a mix of 1/2 plain flour and 1/2 wholemeal

• Rub in 100g butter
• Add 50g grated parmesan and a pinch of salt
• Add some stripped thyme leaves if you have them
• Add 1 egg yolk mixed with 1tsp water gradually to bring it into a ball
• Wrap in cling film and put in fridge

You can cook any strips of leftover pastry with a bit of cheese on the top as impromptu cheese straws. 

Click here to go to Claire’s fabulous blog where you can find lots of other inspirational recipes.