Gooseberry and elderflower pies

I love the ease of a free-form fruit pie. No need for a tin or dish; just gather up the sides of the pastry and carefully press around the filling. You've essentially created a scruffy-looking pastry bowl; one that looks all the better for it's irregularity and absence of uniformity. Gooseberries are at their best right now; there's a wonderful Pick Your Own just down the road from us, and these little jade marvels were half the price of the Strawberries a few rows down - always a bonus. Makes 4 small pies.

700g Gooseberries
100g Granulated sugar
A generous splash of Elderflower cordial
600g Shortcrust pastry
1 Egg, beaten
Demerara sugar

1 Heat your oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Simmer the gooseberries on a low heat with the sugar and elderflower cordial for about 5 minutes; the berries need to soften slightly but still retain their shape.
2 Roll the pastry out on a floured surface until approximately 3mm thick. Place a dinner plate onto the pastry before trimming to leave a circular disc of pastry. Gently position a smaller, saucer-sized plate in the centre of the disc, then use the blunt back edge of a knife to lightly score an inner circle.
3 Spoon gooseberries into the inner circle, taking care not to go over the score line. Bring the pastry sides up around the sides of the filling, then shape around the fruit. If the filling sits a bit low in the pie once the sides have been brought up, spoon in a few more gooseberries. Brush the pastry with beaten egg, then sprinkle with Demerara sugar.
4 Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and crumbly. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whatever takes your fancy.

Slow cooked shepherd's pie

Recipe and food styling: Jassy Davis
Find the recipe >>> Here <<<

A slice of pie in the apple orchard

Recipe: Nan

Venison goulash pie with cucumber salad

Venison goulash pie

450g diced venison shoulder

1 Onion, thinly sliced

6 Juniper berries, crushed

1tsp Caraway seeds

1 Bay leaf

200g Button mushrooms

600ml Game or beef stock

2tbsp Smoked paprika

Salt and pepper

Shortcrust pastry

Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Toss venison with a liberal sprinkle of plain flour.

Brown the meat in a hot pan, spoon onto a plate and set aside. Add a little olive oil to

the pan, then gently soften the onions with the juniper berries,

caraway seeds and bay leaf. Add the venison back to the pan, spoon in

the paprika and stir through for a few minutes before adding the

stock. Season, then simmer on a low heat for just under 2 hours; after which

the stock will have reduced, thickened and the meat will be tender. Pour goulash into a pie dish.

Roll the pastry out on a floured surface to about 5mm thick. Using a rolling pin, carefully drape the

pastry lid on top of the pie dish. Trim off any excess, gently press a fork around the edge and brush

with beaten egg (it's also a good idea to make a small hole in the middle to release any steam too).

Bake pie for 25 minutes until golden brown.

Cucumber salad

1 Cucumber

2tbsp Olive oil

2tbsp White wine vinegar

1/2tsp Sugar

Dill fronds, roughly torn

Salt and pepper

Peel the cucumber, then finely slice with a mandolin slicer (use a potato

peeler as a slicer if you haven't got a mandolin; it's a bit fiddly,

but still works). Stir in the oil, vinegar and sugar. Season, then mix

in the dill fronds.

Pumpkin pie

2 x 375g packs sweet shortcrust pastry

4lb chopped pumpkin
150g sultanas
400g light muscovado sugar
Zest 1 large orange
300ml orange juice
1tsp ground cinnamon
1/2tsp Allspice
1/2tsp Nutmeg
1 bay leaf
A large knob of butter
A good slosh of brandy

Preheat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Tip the filling ingredients into a large bowl and mix together with a wooden spoon. Pour into a large dish and cook in the oven for about 45 minutes, stirring regularly. While this is cooking, line a 23cm springform cake tin with shortcrust pastry, making sure that you have enough spare for the lid. Add the pumpkin mixture to the lined tin, cover with pastry lid and pinch round the edge to create a seal. make a couple slits in the top with a knife. Brush with milk, sprinkle with muscovado sugar and bake for 30-35 minutes until golden. Allow to cool for a bit before removing tin.