To mark British Pie Week (7-13 March), food intolerance specialist YorkTest has put together three alternative recipes for those who struggle to eat common ingredients in some of the UK’s favourite dishes.
At least one in ten people in the UK have an intolerance to gluten, dairy or egg, which means that they can struggle to eat the pastry and sauces in many pies and can’t enjoy British Pie Week. This is despite the appetite for free-from meals continuing to grow, with “gluten free food near me” searches increasing by over 300% in the last year.
YorkTest has worked with its expert nutritionists to create three recipes for British Pie Week with novel spins on some of the most popular pies in the UK, including:
● Vegetarian pork pies
● Dairy-free fish pie
● Gluten-free steak and onion pie
Sal Hanvey, expert nutritionist at YorkTest, said:
“From the humble pork pie to the traditional pub grub that is the steak and onion, pies are always a crowd pleaser in the UK. They’re what we make to show love for our family and what we eat when we want a hearty meal.
“But with so many people in the UK not able to consume the common ingredients in our favourite pies, we decided to make these recipes so that nobody misses out on enjoying British Pie week. Plus, it might mean that your peers realise that free-from pies can actually still be just as delicious, nutritious and fun to make.”
Pork Pie (Vegetarian)
Whether you choose to eat yours as a pocket-sized snack, or go all out with an entire meal, few things are as good as a homemade pork pie, with jellied pork stock and a hot water crust pastry.
However, pork pie is often unsurprisingly, carnivorous. It’s entire essence is made up of meat, which can be off-putting to vegetarians. To help those who prefer not to eat meat this pie week, we’ve created a vegetarian pork pie recipe:
Recipe
Serves 4
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 40 mins
Tools
4 x 150ml pudding moulds
1 x rolling pin
1 x round cookie cutter – slightly bigger than the top of the moulds
Ingredients
Shop bought shortcrust pastry of choice
For the filling:
Sunflower oil
150g ‘chicken pieces’ – for example, Quorn
2-3 large mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
65g sweetcorn, from the tin
1 x red or orange pepper, chopped
1 x vegetarian gel sachet – e.g. Dr Oetkers
1 tsp thyme dried herb
Pinch to season, salt and black pepper
1 egg beaten, for glaze
190 ml vegetable stock, e.g. Kallo
Method
1 – Grease the 4 pudding moulds well and place a disc of baking parchment in the base of each, and pop into the fridge to cool.
2 – Preheat the oven to 200℃ (180℃ fan)
3 – Heat a glug of oil in a frying pan and cook 150g Quorn pieces for about 15 minutes until coloured and cooked through.
4 – Add three chopped mushrooms and cook for 2-3 minutes.
5 – Transfer the mix into a bowl and add 65g sweetcorn, the coloured pepper of choice and the dried thyme herb and season with salt and pepper.
6 – Remove the chilled pastry moulds from the fridge.
7 – Cut your pre-made shop bought pastry to fill in the mould and cut circles to seal and sit on top.
8 – Carefully fill the pies with the filling.
9 – Place the circle lids on top of the pies and seal them by pressing the pastry with your fingers.
10 – Cut a small hole in the top of the lid with a knife to pour the gel in later.
11 – Brush the pastry lids with some of the beaten egg.
12 – Place the pies on a baking tray and put in the centre of the oven and bake for about 35-40 minutes approx.
13 – Remove from the oven and let it cool slightly. Remove the pies from the moulds and let them cool. Can be eaten hot or cold.
14 – Make the jelly using vegetable stock, following the instructions on the packet.
15 – Set over a medium heat in a pan on the cooker. Bring to the boil.
16 – Pour the hot gel into the pies via the hole in the top of the pies. Allow it to settle and eat!
