The Ultimate Cheesy Vegetarian Pie

Humble pie showing off humble vegetables. If you're a cauliflower cheese fan, you're going to love this. And no skill needed. It's stress-free. Simply add two sliced leeks to boiling salted water for four minutes. And I'll get on with the cauliflower. I've got a really good-sized cauliflower here and there's such good value at cauliflower. And I'm going to make that into sprigs so it helps to start off by cutting out the stalk. That's it. If you want to grow cauliflower at home in the garden or in the allotment, beware that caterpillars love it and so do pigeons. Pop the cauliflower into the pot and boil for a further three minutes. When ready, drain well and leave to cool. And now to my white sauce. Start with 55 grams of plain flour and the same of melted butter. Mix it well. I've heated up 450 ml of milk. So in goes a little to start with. Then at once, beat it with a whisk and in a very short time, it becomes thick and smooth. I've made so many white sauces in my time and I've learned that if you have hot milk, it makes it much easier, much quicker and there's no likelihood of you having lumps in it. Just add gradually until there's a beautifully smooth sauce. Now for the cheese. Coarsely grated parmesan, 55 grams and 115 of really well-flavoured cheddar. For the best cheese sauce, a couple of tablespoons of Dijon mustard is a must. As is seasoning, of course. That's it, off the heat and also allow to cool. So I've got a cold sauce, cold vegetables. So first of all, I'm going to put the cauliflower and leeks in. If you have a lot of leftover vegetables, you can make this humble pie with those. 150 grams of frozen peas will add a splash of colour. And then lastly, some button mushrooms that I've just tossed in butter and cooked. Gently fold it all in together. Time to turn it into a pie. Oh, it's quite a weight. So tip that in. It's important to have the vegetables and the sauce cold because if you put the pastry on top, it melts the pastry if it's hot. And there's nothing more delicious than flaky, buttery puff pastry. Shop-bought, of course. Now to make that pastry stick, I'm going to just put a little beaten egg around the edge of the pie dish. My mother would always do it just with her fingers like this all the way around. A bit messy. I'll be a bit smarter and use a brush. And then it's so easy just to lie the pastry over and trim. That's it. And I'm going to just put a fork around the edge to press it down to make sure the pastry doesn't slip in. An egg wash will make the pastry golden brown. With a small hole to let the steam out. And now for my magic topping. I've saved a strip to do this. You must think this is very strange, but I promise you it's very effective. So take a sharp knife and I'm going to make it like spaghetti or noodles. Dip into the remaining egg and arrange them across the top as higgledy-piggledy and as carefree as you like. I think children would love to do this. You can just imagine what a mess they'll get in. Look at that. All that's needed now is a preheated 180-fan oven and the patience to wait for 45 minutes. This mouth-watering pie can be made a day ahead. Just keep it in the fridge and glaze before cooking. I've had a little check and the pie is ready. Gorgeous golden brown. Doesn't that look amazing? And you'll never see another one like that. It's totally original. This simple dish is so heart-warming. I can't wait to tuck in. That was good. I've called it humble pie but I think it's really rather special. Thanks for tuning in. Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel and enjoy.