Christmas Picnic Pie
Who doesn’t love a leftover that can then be turned into a picnic pie? Adjust the recipe to what you have leftover - we used some of the pesto potato salad, courgette salad, and some of the roasted cherry tomato and bocconcini salad from our Feastive magazine, but any cooked vegetables will work. It’s also a great way to use up extra milk and cream, just allow at least 1 egg for ½ cup of liquid. We used a loose bottom round baking tin for our pie, but you could use a Swiss roll tin or baking dish. Be aware that cooking in a deeper tin will increase the baking time.
Ingredients
1-2 rolls savoury shortcrust or puff pastry
4 cups approx. of leftover veggies, sliced or chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 cups shredded ham, turkey, or lamb
2-3 Tbsp chopped herbs, such as parsley, basil, chives etc
4 eggs, beaten
1½ cups milk, cream, or a combination
Method
Grease a baking tin (we used a 20cm round tin) and line the base with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Roll out the pastry and press it into the tin, allowing for some overhang. Make sure to leave yourself enough pastry for covering the top of the pie. Begin filling the pie, layering the vegetables, meats, and herbs, and seasoning with salt and pepper as you go.
Set aside 2 tablespoons of the egg mix. Combine the rest of the eggs with the milk and/or cream mix, season with salt and pepper, and pour into the tin over your vegetables and meat.
Brush some of the reserved egg mix along the edge of the pastry crust and top with the top piece of pastry. Crimp the edges, brush with the egg mix, and cut a few slits in the top to allow the steam to escape. Bake for 60-70 minutes (a wider, shallower dish will cook in less time).
If the pastry starts to brown too much on top, cover loosely with a piece of baking paper. Insert a skewer to check that the liquid mix is cooked through. Set aside to cool for at least 30 minutes before removing from the tin and cutting.