Recipe and styling by Nomvuselelo Mncube
Photograph by Dylan Swart
Mushroom and bacon pies
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 red onion, peeled and diced
- 250g button mushrooms, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 2 leeks, thinly sliced
- 200g streaky bacon, chopped into 1cm squares
- 100g baby carrots, chopped into 1cm slices
- 5 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves picked and stems discarded
- 1 tbsp dried mixed herbs
- 250ml (1 cup) chicken stock
- 100g crème fraîche
- 2 x 400g rolls ready-made puff pastry, defrosted
- 1 egg, lightly whisked
Instructions
Place a large frying pan over medium heat. Melt together the oil and butter. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden and soft, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic, and cook until the mushrooms are browned, 5 minutes.
Add the leeks, bacon, carrots and herbs. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock, cover with a lid and cook until the carrots are tender, 15 – 20 minutes. Remove from heat, add the crème fraîche and stir to combine. Allow to cool completely.
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Roll the pastry out slightly thinner, moving in one direction only. Use a 10cm cookie cutter to cut out 4 rounds. Set aside.
Grease 4 x 250ml ramekins and press the pastry into the base and up the sides. Freeze for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, using a 9cm round cookie cutter, cut 4 pie tops from the remaining roll of pastry.
Remove the pastry-lined ramekins from the freezer. Divide the mushroom mixture evenly among them. Brush the pastry edges with some of the whisked egg, cover with the pie tops and press the edges to seal the pastry. Brush the tops with more whisked egg and cut a small slit in the centre of each pie top. Bake in the preheated oven until golden and cooked through, 20 – 25 minutes.
Imka Webb is a freelance digital marketing expert and the digital editor of Food & Home Entertaining magazine. www.imkawebb.com
