Västerbotten cheese pie

This pie, made of Swedish Västerbotten cheese, nearly always crops up at midsummer and crayfish parties and at Christmas. You can substitute Västerbotten with mature cheddar cheese.

Västerbotten Cheese Pie Credit: My Swedish Kitchen

• serves

  8

• prep

  1 hour

• cook

  1:05 hour

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

Pastry

• 130 g plain flour
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
• 80 g cold butter, cubed
• 1 tbsp vodka

Cheese filling

• 3 eggs
• 300 ml single cream
• ½ tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 300 g Västerbotten or mature cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced

Mushroom topping

• 75 g butter
• 250 g chanterelle mushrooms, brushed clean
• 1 small handful of fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped

Instructions

1. To make the pastry, mix together the flour and salt. Add the mustard and cold butter, then use your fingertips to rub it all together until you have a sandy texture. Add the vodka to bring it into a dough.

2. Place dough between two sheets of baking paper and roll into a circle that is larger than your quiche tin. Leave to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Remove the pastry from the fridge and use it to line the pie tin (if the pastry is too hard, leave to soften for 5–10 minutes before lining the tin).

4. Prick the pastry in the tin with a fork. Line with baking paper and pour in baking weights.

Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the baking weights and paper and bake for a further 10 minutes, or until the base is dry and firm.

5. To make the filling, beat the eggs with the cream, salt and pepper until you have a smooth mixture. Stir in the cheese. Pour into the pie case, put the onions on top and bake for another 25–30 minutes, or until the mixture is set but still a little wobbly, then set aside to cool.

6. To make the mushrooms, heat the butter for the mushrooms in a large frying pan. Once the butter is foaming, add the chanterelle and cook for 4–5 minutes, or until lightly golden and cooked through. Leave to cool slightly.

7. Scatter the pie with parsley and top with the mushrooms to serve.

Note

• This pie is also great cold. If making in advance, cook the pie and keep for up to 2 days in the fridge, but don't cook the mushrooms until just before serving.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.