Cheese & Onion Pie

Name: Cheese & Onion Pie
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: Shortcrust: 350g plain flour, 175g cold butter, pinch of salt, cold water; 4 large onions, thinly sliced; 40g butter; 300g sharp Lancashire or mature cheddar, grated; 1 egg; 1 tbsp milk; white pepper; 1 beaten egg, to glaze

Lancashire’s great vegetarian pie — sweet slow onions and sharp cheddar in shortcrust, born of ration-book ingenuity and still on every northern chippy counter.

Prep: 25 min
Cook: 55 min
Total: 80 min
Yield: Serves 6
Difficulty: Moderate
Era: Wartime classic

Ingredients

Shortcrust: 350g plain flour, 175g cold butter, pinch of salt, cold water
4 large onions, thinly sliced
40g butter
300g sharp Lancashire or mature cheddar, grated
1 egg; 1 tbsp milk; white pepper
1 beaten egg, to glaze

Method

Oven200°C400°FFan 180°CGas 6

Make the pastry: rub the butter into the flour, bind with cold water, chill 30 minutes.
Melt the butter and sweat the onions very gently for 20 minutes until completely soft and sweet but not browned. Cool.
Fold the grated cheese through the onions with the egg, milk, salt and white pepper.
Line a 23cm pie plate with half the pastry, fill, and lid with the rest. Crimp and cut a vent.
Glaze with egg and bake at 200°C / 400°F (fan 180°C, gas 6) for 30–35 minutes until golden.
Rest 15 minutes before cutting — the filling sets as it stands. Serve with mushy peas and chips, naturally.

Oven temperatures are given in Celsius, Fahrenheit, fan and gas mark throughout. Quantities are metric, as cooked and written in the UK.