Sausage, Cep and Chestnut Galette

This recipe was created by my friend cookery writer Claire Thomson of 5 o’clock apron to celebrate the release of this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau about which we’ve just made a reel which you can find on my instagram feed @food_writer.

I’ve generally gone down the easy (and typically French) route of recommending it with charcuterie and cheese but she’s come up with a delicious galette (open-topped pie) that would make a great main course for a Beaujolais nouveau supper. It’s super-easy to rustle up too.

We tried it with the 2024 Chateau de Vaux Beaujolais Villages which I was sent to try by Christopher Piper Wines which is brimming with cherry flavours and great value at £10.94.

Serves 4

Pastry 
125g 00 plain flour
125g wholemeal flour 
150g cold butter, diced 
1 egg beaten with pinch of salt

Galette filling 
Handful of dried cep or porcini, soaked for 15 mins in boiling water, drained (keep the water for another recipe)
150g button mushrooms, sliced 
2 red onions, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic
3 sprigs of thyme 
3 best quality sausages 
Big knob of extra butter
Salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten with a pinch of salt (egg wash) 
4 - 6 chestnuts, coarsely grated (you can buy them in a vac pack) 
Parmesan 

Claire served this with a salad of watercress, russet apple, hazelnut and parsley dressed with red wine vinaigrette (and I served it rather less healthily, as you can see, with new potatoes and Brussel tops!)

Claire writes: Make the pastry, I used a food processor to pulse, then added the egg and splash of very cold water to bring the mix together. I refrigerated it overnight. Roll the pastry out approx 1/2 cm thick & 38cm round and refrigerate again on a baking sheet. 

Cook the onions, garlic and thyme for 10 mins over medium heat till softened. Add both mushrooms and cook for 5 mins to soften. Add thyme, salt and pepper. Off the heat, add sausages (removed from casings). Arrange this in the centre of the pastry, leaving a border. Pull the sides over to create a border of approx 5cm. (See Claire’s reel) 

Egg wash the pastry and cook in at 190°C/160°fan/375°F/Gas 5 for around 40 - 45 mins. Remove from the oven and grate over the chestnuts and parmesan to serve.

What else to drink: Other light juicy reds such as a pinot noir or cinsault would work too.

For pairings with other Beaujolais wines see this post.

Curried cauliflower cheese filo pie

Nothing is as exciting as a new Ottolenghi cookbook but I particularly love the approach of Shelf Love on which he’s collaborated with Noor Murad and the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen team. It's the first in a series of OTK books which are designed to be easy and versatile (they recommend alternative ingredients if you don't have the ones in the recipe)

I’ve already had the chance to taste a couple of recipes friends have made but this cauliflower cheese filo pie has my name all over it. Yours too, hopefully!

Curried cauliflower cheese filo pie

Cauliflower cheese, but make it pie. This dish was once described as ‘molten-hot-cheese-lava’ and we think that’s pretty fitting for the ultimate comfort of comfort foods.

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Serves 4, generously

1 large cauliflower, trimmed and cut into bite-size florets (700g)

2 tsp mild curry powder

3 tbsp olive oil

100g unsalted butter, 50g cut into roughly 3cm cubes and 50g melted

75g plain flour

675ml whole milk

2 garlic cloves, crushed

11/2 tbsp English mustard

150g mature cheddar, roughly grated

6 sheets of good-quality filo pastry (we use feuilles de filo)

salt and black pepper

1 tbsp roughly chopped parsley, to serve

11/2 tsp lemon zest, to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Line the bottom and sides of a 23cm springform cake tin with baking parchment.

2. Put the cauliflower on a large, parchment-lined baking tray and toss with the curry powder, half the oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes, until cooked through and lightly coloured. Set aside, and turn the oven temperature down to 170°C fan.

3. Meanwhile, make the béchamel. Put the cubed butter into a medium saucepan on a medium-high heat and, once melted, whisk in the flour and cook for 1–2 minutes – it should start to smell nutty (like popcorn). Turn the heat down to medium and slowly add the milk a little at a time, whisking continuously to prevent any lumps, until incorporated and the sauce is smooth. Cook, whisking often, for about 7 minutes, until thickened slightly. Off the heat, stir in the garlic, mustard, cheese and 1/4 teaspoon of salt until the cheese has melted.

4. Keep your filo sheets under a damp tea towel to prevent them from drying out. In a bowl, combine the melted butter and the remaining 11/2 tablespoons of oil and keep to one side.

5. Working one sheet at a time, brush the exposed side of the filo with the butter mixture and drape it into your prepared tin (buttered side up), pushing it down gently to fit. Continue in this way with the next filo sheet, brushing it with butter and then laying it over the bottom sheet, rotating it slightly so the overhang drapes over the sides at a different angle. Do this with all six sheets. (There's a really good step by step series of pictures illustrating this in the book)

6. Spoon half the béchamel into the base and top with the roasted cauliflower florets. Spoon over the remaining béchamel, then crimp up the overhang so that it creates a messy ‘scrunched-up’ border around the edges, leaving the centre of the pie exposed.

7. Brush the top of the filo border with the remaining butter mixture, then transfer the tin to a baking tray and bake for 30 minutes.

8. Using a tea towel to help you, carefully release the outer circle of the springform tin and return the pie to the oven for another 20–25 minutes, or until the sides are nicely coloured and everything is golden and bubbling. Leave to settle for 15 minutes.

9. Top the pie with the parsley and lemon zest and serve warm.

What to drink: I’d go for a crisp Italian white wine like a Falanghina with this though a not-too-fruity dry Alsace, Austrian or German riesling would work well too.

Extracted from Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love by Noor Murad and Yotam Ottolenghi (Ebury Press, £25) All photography by Elena Heatherwick

Blood Orange and Rhubarb Meringue Pie

This spring is seeing a bumper crop of new cookery books of which Catherine Phipps' Citrus is one of the most enticing ...

If you want to take advantage of the rhubarb and blood oranges that are in the shops at the moment you couldn't find a better way to use them.

Cat writes: "Most meringue pies use a sweet pastry, but as I find the meringue so sweet, I think it is better served with a very buttery shortcrust (pie dough), so I take out the sugar.

The butter in the filling is optional – it’s not always used and I think it adds a richness, making the filling more like curd and less like custard."

Blood Orange and Rhubarb Meringue Pie

Serves 6

For the pastry

225g/1 ¾ cups plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting

150g/2/3 cup butter, chilled and diced

1 egg yolk

A pinch of salt

For the filling

400g/14oz rhubarb, preferably the pink forced kind, cut into short (2cm/ ¾ -in) lengths

60g/1⁄₃ cup caster (superfine) sugar

Finely grated zest of 2 blood oranges and juice of up to 4 blood oranges

1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)

3 egg yolks

30g/1 tbsp butter (optional)

For the meringue topping

4 egg whites (left from pastry and filling)

225g/1 ¼ cups caster (superfine) sugar

½ tsp cream of tartar

First make the pastry. Either whiz the flour and butter in a food processor or rub in by hand until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then add the egg yolk and salt. Mix briefly, adding a little chilled water if necessary, until you can bring the pastry together into a ball – it should need no more than a tablespoon. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas mark 5.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface and use to line a pie dish (between 21 and 23cm/8 and 9in in diameter). Prick all over with a fork, then line with baking parchment and fill with baking beans. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the beans and bake for a further 5 minutes or so until the pastry is a light golden brown. Remove from the oven.

To make the filling, put the rhubarb into a baking dish, sprinkle with the sugar and orange zest and roast in the oven for 30–35 minutes, stirring every so often – if youare organized you can cook this at the same time as you are blind baking the pastry. Strain the rhubarb juice into a measuring jug and set aside the solids. Add enough blood orange juice to make up the rhubarb juice to 250ml/1 cup plus 1 tbsp.

Use a small amount of the liquid to whisk the cornflour (cornstarch) into a thin paste in a bowl, and heat the rest in a medium saucepan. When the liquid is hot, pour some of it over the cornflour mixture, whisking constantly, then pour this back into the saucepan. Stir over a low heat until the mixture thickens – this is likely to happen very suddenly. Add the egg yolks and butter, if using, and continue to whisk. Remove from the heat and stir through the reserved rhubarb. Pour into the cooked pastry case. If you have time, leave it to cool and chill down completely as it will help the texture enormously and prevent possible separation.

To make the meringue, whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until well aerated and just starting to form stiff peaks. Continuing to whisk, add the sugar a tablespoon at a time until the meringue is beautifully stiff and glossy, then add the remaining sugar all at once, and sprinkle in the cream of tartar. Pipe or pile the meringue over the filling.

Bake in the oven for around 15–20 minutes until the meringue is a dappled golden brown. I love this both hot and cold and I don’t think it needs any embellishment.

What to drink: You want a really sweet wine with good acidity with this delicious pie. I suggest a young late harvest riesling or a Canadian ice wine. FB

From CITRUS: Recipes that celebrate the sour and the sweet by Catherine Phipps (Quadrille, £20.00) Photography: Mowie Kay

Josceline Dimbleby's Crispy Pigeon Pie

This impressive Moroccan-style pie from Josceline Dimbleby's food memoir Orchards in the Oasis would make a great centrepiece for a dinner party or more casual supper with friends.

"This party piece – a deliciously aromatic fusion of flavours – isn’t a true Moroccan bastilla, but it is inspired by those I have eaten there, and less laborious to make." says Josceline. "I serve it with a green salad – with fennel slivers and coriander and mint leaves added – and a bowl of yogurt to spoon onto your plate beside the pie."

The filling can be made ahead.

Serves 8

12 pigeon breast fillets, skinned
350g red onions
3 large cloves garlic
generous walnut-sized piece fresh root ginger
75g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 rounded teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 rounded teaspoon paprika
finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
2 level teaspoons caster sugar
150g blanched almonds
6 medium free-range eggs
4 tablespoons whole milk
1 rounded teaspoon turmeric
large handful of flat-leafed parsley
350g filo or strudel pastry
1 level tablespoon icing sugar
sea salt, cayenne pepper

Cut the pigeon breasts into small pieces. Peel, halve and finely slice the onions. Peel and finely chop the garlic and ginger. Melt 15g of the butter with the olive oil in a wide flameproof casserole dish or large, deep frying pan (with a lid) over a medium heat. Stir in the garlic, ginger, cinnamon and paprika, followed by the pigeon. Stir for a minute or two, then add the onions and the lemon rind and juice. Cover the pan and cook over a low heat for about 40 minutes, stirring now and then, until the pigeon is tender. Then remove the lid, stir in the sugar and bubble to reduce the juices down. Season to taste with salt and cayenne pepper and leave to cool.

Meanwhile, brown the almonds in a dry frying pan and then whiz briefly in a food processor to chop. Whisk the eggs in a bowl with the milk, turmeric and a little salt. Melt a knob of butter in a saucepan over a low heat, add the egg mixture and scramble slowly and lightly, stirring only once or twice. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Heat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4.

Pull the leaves off the parsley stems and chop them roughly. Stir into the cooled pigeon mixture with the almonds. Melt the remaining butter. Brush a loose-based deep cake tin, about 18cm in diameter, thinly with butter. Line the tin with a sheet of filo, bringing it up the sides and allowing the excess to overhang the rim; keep the rest of the filo covered with a damp cloth so it doesn’t dry out. Then lay another sheet of filo across the first one (at a 90° angle) and continue like this, buttering the sheets between each layer, and reserving two sheets.

Now spoon half the pigeon mixture into the filo-lined tin and level the surface. Spread the scrambled egg evenly on top and cover with the remaining pigeon mixture. Fold the overhanging filo over the filling and then lay the remaining filo sheets on top. Press the excess pastry down inside the edge of the tin and butter the top.

Cook the pie in the centre of the oven for about 30 minutes until well browned. Push the pie up so it is just on the tin base, then using a wide spatula, lever it carefully off the base onto an ovenproof serving plate. Put back in the oven for about 20 minutes to crisp the sides. Before serving, sift icing sugar over the top. Use a very sharp knife to cut into slices.

Taken from ORCHARDS IN THE OASIS by JOSCELINE DIMBLEBY, published by Quadrille (£25, hardback)

Photography © JASON LOWE

What to drink: I'd like an aged Spanish red like a Rioja Reserva or Gran Reserva with this or an old vintage of Chateau Musar.