Taylor - Pie!: 100 gorgeously glorious recipes

First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Absolute Press, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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Text copyright
Genevieve Taylor, 2014
This edition copyright
Absolute Press, 2014
Photography copyright
Mike Cooper

Publisher Jon Croft
Commissioning Editor Meg Avent
Art Direction and Design Matt Inwood
Project Editor Alice Gibbs
Editor Anne Sheasby
Photography Mike Cooper
Food Styling Genevieve Taylor

ePub ISBN: 9781472909879
Print ISBN: 9781472905666

The rights of Genevieve Taylor to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library.

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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London WC1B 3DP
www.bloomsbury.com

Thanks
Pie! has been a brilliant book to write and I have loved every minute of it. Most of the recipe testing happened during the hottest summer for many a year, yet funnily enough I received not one complaint from friends and family as I fed them endless pies in the blistering sun of the heatwave... proving there is a pie for everyone, whatever the weather. Id like to say thanks, once again, to Absolute Press for trusting me with this book Jon Croft, Meg Avent, Alice Gibbs and Matt Inwood thank you one and all, it's always a pleasure.

Big thanks to Kate Hordern, my agent, for her consistently calm encouragement and positivity.

Photographer Mike Cooper yet again delivered a book full of beautiful images that are an inspiration. Thanks, Mike, for bringing my recipes alive!

Finally, thanks to my family, who make the endless multi-tasking that every working mum knows only too well feel not only possible but truly worth it. Rob, Izaac and Eve: lots of love, always.

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Caramelised Pear, Walnut and Gorgonzola Tarts, see

If there is a person in the land who doesnt enjoy a pie, then I certainly havent met them! Universally adored, when you mention the word pie to almost anyone, the response is a simple and resounding mmmm.

We all love to eat them, but pies are also wonderful things to cook for your loved ones, bringing you much well-earned praise, and isnt that just what all cooks desire and deserve?

Pies are firmly at the hands-on end of the cooking spectrum. Pastry is carefully made, flour is lightly dusted over the work surface, then the pastry is gently rolled and draped into the tin, and finally there is the art of cutting, shaping and decorating the pastry, not forgetting the all-important filling, of course. None of these stages are necessarily time-consuming or difficult, but they do simply need to be made from the heart.

Imagine a pie and invariably itll be a pastry-topped version, either bursting with sweet fruit or a combination of tender meat and vegetables. Happily, however, we can stretch and mould the definition of a pie to include those ones topped with fluffy butter-rich mashed potato, or others, such as tarts or quiches, with pastry only on the bottom. Not to mention pasties, pork pies, samosas and turnovers, and even a pie made from pasta. From humble to luxurious creations, and super quick to satisfyingly time-consuming recipes, in Pie! youll find them all, both savoury and sweet. Indeed, a glorious pie for every occasion you care to think of.

Happy baking!

Genevieve Taylor
Bristol, September 2013

Types of Pastry

There are three principle types of pastry that are used time and again throughout this book and they are shortcrust, rough puff pastry and true puff pastry. In this section, you will find basic recipes for shortcrust and rough puff pastry, along with a few flavour variations for each. But you will find no recipe for true puff pastry, as its just way too elaborate and time-consuming to make in the home kitchen and is not something I would ever attempt. Ready-made puff pastry is perfectly acceptable, and if you stretch to the all-butter puff pastry (and I suggest you do, as eating pastry is a once in a while treat that should be savoured), then it is simply delicious. I tend to buy all-butter puff pastry (to my mind, if youre having puff pastry, you may as well have the proper stuff), so although recipes dont specify this, I would recommend using it if you can. I also include a basic recipe for hot water crust pastry in this section, as well as a couple of basic gluten-free pastry recipes a bit further on.

Ready-made Pastry

There is a good range of ready-made pastries available and they are a pretty good substitute for homemade pastry. Many are available as blocks or ready-rolled sheets and can be bought chilled or frozen, but the pack sizes do vary a bit. All-butter varieties provide the best flavour. Pretty much all shop-bought pastries are suitable for vegetarians, and many are also suitable for vegans, although all-butter pastries (and sometimes sweet shortcrust pastry) contain butter and are therefore not vegan.

Standard pack sizes for blocks of puff and shortcrust pastry tend to be 500g (though they sometimes vary between the fresh and frozen types). Ready-rolled sheets of puff pastry can vary a little from brand to brand, but in my recipes I tend to opt for a rectangular sheet from a 320g pack. Blocks of all-butter puff pastry tend to come in two pack sizes (500g or 375g packs, depending on whether you choose frozen or fresh). Ready-rolled all-butter puff pastry sheets, and ready-rolled shortcrust pastry sheets or rounds, are commonly available. All-butter shortcrust pastry is generally obtainable in blocks and ready-rolled sheets. Sweet shortcrust pastry (including all-butter varieties) is usually available as blocks or sheets. Lighter versions of puff and shortcrust pastry, as well as flavoured puff pastry, are sometimes obtainable. Chilled and frozen filo pastry is also readily available.

Filo Pastry

Filo is another pastry that personally I would never attempt to make and ready-made filo is very acceptable. When working with filo, remember that the thin sheets dry out very easily and they will then become very hard and brittle to work with, so keep the sheets you are not working with loosely covered with a clean damp tea towel. Warka (also known as warkha, warqa or brik pastry) is a type of North African filo-type pastry that is super-thin and is traditionally used in dishes such as Brik loeuf (see ), but it can be hard to source so I normally use filo in its place. If you want to find real warka, its worth trying to hunt it out in Middle Eastern shops, specialist North African stores or online.