Spinach and mushroom puff pie with thyme, white wine and black truffle oil

Ooh, I can smell garlic! – JD, 6

I don’t cook with mushrooms very often as my husband isn’t a fan, but I’ve been craving them lately, and so this pie was born.

The mushrooms are bathing in a garlic, thyme and white wine sauce topped with puff pastry, and there’s a layer of spinach just beneath the crust, flavoured with a hint of black truffle oil. This is one flavour-packed pie and it looks great when served at the table.

Here’s how to make it.

Ingredients

• 60g slightly salted butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 large or 4 small garlic sloves
• 1 small white onion
• 1 tsp dried thrme
• Salt and Pepper
• 700g white mushrooms
• 100ml vegetable stock
• 50 ml white wine
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 1 pack of ready-roll puff pastry
• 100g fresh, washed spinach
• 1 tbsp black truffle oil (or olive oil if you don’t have any – we used Lombary Gourmet Black Truffle Oil)
• 1 medium egg
• 1 large, shallow pie dish, approx diameter

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan)
2. Melt the butter and oil in a large pan over a low heat
3. Peel and chop the garlic in 2mm slices and the onion into eighths, then add to the pan with the thyme and season
4. Sweat until soft, then chop the mushrooms into 1-2cm thick slices and add to the pan
5. Turn up the heat and fry until soft
6. Add the stock and wine and bring up to the boil briefly, then down to a simmer
7. In a bowl, mix the cornflour with a little of the liquor from the pan until smooth and then stir into the pan
8. When you have a thick gravy, transfer everything to the pie dish and leave to cool while you prepare the pastry
9. Unroll the puff and, if it’s not wide enough to cover the pie, roll it with a rolling pin
10. Cut two 2cm wide strips off the shorter edge of the pastry and use them to make a rim around the top of the pie dish
11. Pack the fresh spinach on top of the mushrooms, taking care not to leave any stalks sticking up
12. Drizzle the spinach with the truffle oil
13. Put the pastry sheet on top of the pie and press around the rim to seal – I then used the off cuts to add some decorative leaves, held in place with water, but you don’t have to
14. Cut two small slits in the centre to allow excess steam to escape, then trim off the edges and brush all over with beaten egg
15. Bake for 20-25 minutes until puffed up and a rich, golden brown

Disclosure: We were sent the Truffle Oil for review, and thanks to Laura @ Blogs Up North for the pie dish!