Cheesy leek and potato pie - quick, comforting and delicious

This is a gorgeous potato, leek and cheese pie with a flaky pastry top. It's quick to make, ultra comforting, and the cheese sauce is extra tasty and simple thanks to melty, tasty Primula Cheese.

Primula has been a leading family brand for over 90 years and is most famous for squeezy cheese tubes, with their great flavour that’s smooth, cool, savoury, mellow and perfect for a variety of dishes.

Primula combines cheese with real, tasty ingredients to offer a range of tube flavours: Original Cheese, Cheese with Chives, Cheese with Ham, Cheese with Prawns, Cheese with Salmon, Cheese with Jalapeños and Light Cheese. For this recipe, I used Original, but you could use any flavour you like to make this pie even more special.

Primula recently asked 2,000 UK adults to choose their favourite winter warmers and topping the charts are cottage pie, lasagne and roast dinners. Other dishes making the most-popular list include beef stew, spaghetti bolognese and cauliflower cheese, as well as mac and cheese, fish and chips and bangers and mash.

Primula also discovered that while six in 10 people rate winter warmers as one of their favourite things about the colder season, 74% take shortcuts when cooking due to lack of time.

Now, cooking with Primula Cheese is brilliant because you can pack in the flavour but take out the fuss, plus it melts beautifully. So I took on the challenge to create a much-loved pie, using Primula to save time and add flavour.

So, let's make a large, hearty cheesy leek and potato pie that will easily feed four to six, with enough for seconds.

Ingredients

Equipment

Instructions

To make the filling

Place the potatoes in a large pan of cold water and bring to the boil. Cook for 8 minutes until parboiled. Drain, and rinse with cold water. Set aside to cool.

Melt the butter in a large pan over a low heat.

Add the leeks, garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper and sweat for a couple of mins until soft.

Add the peas, stir through and set aside to cool.

To make the sauce

Put the milk, butter and flour in a pan.

Whisk over a low heat until it thickens.

Taste to make sure the flour has cooked out, then add the Primula and whisk through. It will melt easily into the sauce.

Season if necessary and set aside to cool.

To bring it all together

Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan, 400F).  Grease a high-sided, medium-sized roasting tray, not larger than your puff pastry sheet. Make sure it’s a tray with a lip for the pastry to sit on.

Tip the cooled veggies into the tray.

Pour the cooled cheese sauce over the veggies.

Unroll your sheet of puff pastry and lay on top of your roasting tray.

Press a fork around the edges to seal. I find dipped the fork in a little flour helps it to press without sticking.

Trim the edges with a sharp knife.

If you like, you can use your pastry offcuts to create a pattern on top of your pastry lid.

Beat the egg with a splash of cold water to create an egg wash, then brush all over the pastry. Make a little hole in the centre of the pie to allow steam to escape.

Place the tray in the oven and bake for 25-30 mins until golden.

Enjoy! Which are your favourite Winter comfort foods?

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5 from 10 votes

Cheesy leek and potato pie

This is a gorgeous potato, leek and cheese pie with a flaky pastry top. It's quick to make, ultra comforting, and the cheese sauce is extra tasty and simple thanks to melty, tasty Primula Cheese.

Prep Time25 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Total Time50 mins

Course: Pies and quiches

Cuisine: British

Diet: Vegetarian

Keyword: cheese, leek, pie, potatoes

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 693kcal

Author: Emily Leary

Ingredients

For the filling

• 1 kg (2.2 lb) baby potatoes
• 50 g (1.8 oz) butter plus some to grease
• 550 g (1.2 lb) leeks (4 medium), trimmed and sliced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 200 g (7.1 oz) petit pois
• pinch salt and pepper

For the sauce

• 550 ml (1.2 pt) whole milk
• 50 g (1.8 oz) plain flour
• 50 g (1.8 oz) butter
• 2 tubes Primula Original Cheese
• pinch salt and pepper

To top

• 1 sheet ready roll puff pastry
• 1 egg

Equipment

• Weighing scales
• Measuring spoons
• Measuring jug
• Kitchen knife
• Chopping board
• Large saucepan
• Large frying pan
• Wooden spoon
• Whisk
• Medium roasting tray
• Pastry brush

Instructions

To make the filling

• Place the potatoes in a large pan of cold water and bring to the boil. Cook for 8 minutes until parboiled. Drain, and rinse with cold water. Set aside to cool.
• Melt the butter in a large pan over a low heat.
• Add the leeks, garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper and sweat for a couple of mins until soft.
• Add the peas, stir through and set aside to cool.

To make the sauce

• Put the milk, butter and flour in a pan.
• Whisk over a low heat until it thickens.
• Taste to make sure the flour has cooked out, then add the Primula and whisk through. It will melt easily into the sauce.
• Season if necessary and set aside to cool.

To bring it all together

• Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan, 400F). Grease a high-sided, medium-sized roasting tray, not larger than your puff pastry sheet. Make sure it’s a tray with a lip for the pastry to sit on.
• Tip the cooled veggies into the tray.
• Pour the cooled cheese sauce over the veggies.
• Unroll your sheet of puff pastry and lay on top of your roasting tray.
• Press a fork around the edges to seal. I find dipped the fork in a little flour helps it to press without sticking.
• Trim the edges with a sharp knife.
• If you like, you can use your pastry offcuts to create a pattern on top of your pastry lid.
• Beat the egg with a splash of cold water to create an egg wash, then brush all over the pastry. Make a little hole in the centre of the pie to allow steam to escape.
• Place the tray in the oven and bake for 25-30 mins until golden.

Video

Notes

The beauty of this recipe is that you can use up any veg you have lingering in the refrigerator. For example, you could try using shallots instead of leeks, swede instead of new potatoes, and edamame instead of peas!

Nutrition

Calories: 693kcal | Carbohydrates: 78g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 72mg | Sodium: 452mg | Potassium: 1113mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 2388IU | Vitamin C: 57mg | Calcium: 203mg | Iron: 5mg

* Note: nutritional information is estimated, based on publicly available data. Nutrient values may vary from those published. Cuisines identify the primary region of inspiration for a dish.

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This is a commissioned post for Primula.

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