Leek, gruyère and thyme pie

Perfect brunch dish… can be made in advance, is delicious and has the exact amount of richness for a semi-festive meal. It has nothing but very simple and humble ingredients, which work well together, for a very versatile dish. Leeks are in season, even…

 Leek,  gruyère and thyme pie (as seen in The Guardian)

Ingredients

• 1 large baking potato, cut into slices
• 3 medium leeks, washed and sliced into rounds
• A knob of butter
• Salt and black pepper
• 20ml  cream
• 150g  grated gruyère cheese
• 1 sprig thyme, leaves picked
• 500g all-butter puff pastry, rolled
• 1 egg, for washing

 Method

Heat an oven to 180C. Cook the baking potato in boiling salted water until just tender, then drain and set aside.

Cook the leeks over a medium heat in the butter until tender. Season well with salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a bowl, mix the potato flesh with the leeks, cream, gruyère and thyme leaves and season well.

Place one circle of puff pastry on top of a 25cm nonstick pie dish and press into the base – there will be an overhang, which can be trimmed off.

Spoon the leek mixture into the prepared dish and place the other pastry disk on top. Crimp around the sides to seal, then brush the top with egg and make an incision in the middle of the lid to let the steam escape while it’s in the oven.

Cook the pie for 30‑40 minutes until the pastry has turned golden and crisp. Rest for a few minutes before serving.