Ingredients
1 leek
2 parsnips
25g / 0.8 oz unsalted butter
2 tbsp olive oil
Leaves from 25g bunch of thyme
320g / 11 oz ready rolled sheet of all butter pastry
100g / 3.5 oz chestnut mushrooms
50g / 1.7 oz kale, shredded
1 tsp white wine vinegar
100g / 3.5 oz blue cheese, Stilton is great
1 egg, beaten
Salt and pepper
Preparation
- Heat the oven to 200°C / 180°C fan / gas 6. Slice the leeks and rinse, peel the parsnips then continue to use the peeler to slice them lengthways into ribbons. Melt the butter in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil then add the sliced leeks and parsnip ribbons, a generous pinch of salt and the thyme leaves. Fry gently for 10 minutes until everything is softened. Slice the mushrooms and add to the pan with the kale and the vinegar. Turn off the heat while you prepare the pastry.
- Roll out the sheet of pastry onto a lined baking tray (save the trimmings for cheese straws; twist them straight away and place back in the fridge for later). Lift onto the roasting tray and gently score a line into the pastry 1cm from the edge.
- Scatter the cooked veg inside the scored rectangle of pastry and crumble over the blue cheese.
- Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten egg and grind pepper over the top making sure to get plenty on the pastry edges.
- Bake for 25 minutes until crisp, golden, melty, to die for. Remove from the oven, slice and serve with a crisp bitter leaf salad.