Every month, I write, develop and test 21 seasonal recipes for LandScape magazine, a countryside-themed magazine with articles on food and food production, crafting and gardening, as its home economist.
This pie is for the 2018 Christmas issue – we ate it chilled in bright sunshine out in the garden and it worked just as well with some salad and chutney! But this is a great vegetarian showstopper Christmas main and overtakes any meat offering for flavour. You can easily make this vegan too, by exchanging the honey for maple syrup and cream for a soya alternative. I love making hot crusty pastry – a sign, for sure, that I am in the right line of work (you probably think I am crazy), but you could do this with a pre-made shortcrust, but the bottom may get a bit soggy.
Serves 6
550g parsnips, quartered lengthways
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
280g mushrooms, chopped
1 tbsp whisky
2 tbsp single cream
340g cooked and peeled chestnuts
200g spinach
1 tbsp honey
150g whole cooked and chilled cranberries
1 tbsp caster sugar
sea salt and black pepper
For the pastry
650g strong white flour, plus extra for dusting
50g chilled unsalted butter
170g solid vegetable fat, plus extra for greasing
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Grease a 20cm round springform tin and line the bottom with greaseproof paper. For the remainder of the recipe see www.landscapemagazine.co.uk/recipes-2/2017/12/13/cranberry-topped-vegetable-pie
