I made two little pies with asparagus and chicken for our tea when we went to Glastonbury. As I burnt the first load of pastry, which I had bought, I had to then whip up another batch. So we had one pie with shop-bought and one with home-made, the home-made won the taste test. If you have time and the inclination then make your own.

This is perfect if you have leftover meat from a roast dinner: you can add more vegetables if you have less meat or top it up with some fried bacon. I like to layer pies, ensuring everyone gets a bit of everything.

If the peas or asparagus are late season ones i.e. bigger than new season, then steam them for a couple of minutes before adding to the pie. New season vegetables are sufficiently tender to go in uncooked.

I use a 26cm oblong enamel pie dish, the old fashioned kind, which is white with a blue rim.

Ingredients

Pastry
1 portion rich short crust pastry, 500g packet shop bought or home-made, instructions below
225g plain flour
110g butter, straight from the fridge, cubed
2 egg yolks mixed with 2 tbs very cold water
A pinch of salt

Pie filling
450g chicken or approximately 2 breasts and 2 thighs of a small chicken, cooked, boned and sliced into generous pieces
2 leeks, cut once lengthways, washed then very finely sliced into half-moon shapes
1 tbs olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
50g butter
500ml liquid, a mixture of milk and chicken stock
75g plain flour
Salt and pepper
2 tbs parsley, chopped
100g/handful of seasonal green vegetables, fresh peas or young asparagus, cut into 2cm lengths are ideal
Rind of a lemon
1 egg, beaten

Method
Heat the oven to 200°C

How to make the pastry
If you are making the pastry, get going with it first. Sieve the flour, add a pinch of salt and rub the cold butter into the flour until you have a breadcrumb-like mixture. Add the egg yolks and water and mix with a knife, then bring the dough together with your hand. Add a little more water if the pastry doesn’t come together. A shortcrust pastry is best, so don’t make it soggy, it will turn out hard.
Cool in the fridge for 30 minutes wrapped in cling film.

Making the pie
Roll out 2/3 of the pastry and line the pie dish. Don’t make it too thick, as you will run out of pastry. A pie with too much pastry and not enough filling is a bad thing. Shortcrust pastry is – as its name suggests – very short and sometimes hard to handle. If yours breaks then you can patch it up in the pie dish, no one will know, just make the top look good. Trim the edge of the pastry all round the dish. Prick the base of the pastry lightly with a fork, so it doesn’t rise, cover with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans. Blind bake for ten minutes.

While the pastry case is cooking, gently heat the oil and fry the leeks and garlic with a pinch of salt until they are soft and bright green – don’t rush this, leeks can go papery very easily. Make the white sauce by melting the butter in a small saucepan, remove from the heat and add the flour. Beat well with a wooden spoon, so you have one ball of mixture in the pan. Cook very gently for five to eight minutes; you want to cook the flour, but not burn it. Take it off the heat. Add the liquid bit by bit, mixing well after each spoonful. Once the liquid is incorporated, then cook gently until the sauce thickens, season and add the parsley. You want quite a thick white sauce so it holds together in your pie.

Once the pastry case is cooked, take it out, remove the paper and baking beans. Layer the pie filling, seasoning well with salt and pepper: leeks first, chicken, lemon rind, peas or asparagus and lastly white sauce.

Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten egg and roll out the remaining pastry and cover the pie, pinch the edges to seal the pie and trim the excess. Brush the top with beaten egg and cut two slits in the top for the steam to escape. Cook in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, the meat needs to be fully heated through, so if you put in cold meat you will need the full 30 minutes.

If your pastry top is burning, cover it with greaseproof paper. If the meat was still hot when you put it in, as soon as the pastry is cooked on top, your pie is ready. Take out and cool, cover when cold and take it camping with you in a cool box.

I have been making this tortilla for years, it is a real store cupboard recipe. Waxy potatoes are a must, floury ones like King Edwards will fall apart and leave you with just oniony mashed potatoes. Older new potatoes are ideal, as they are waxy, but less work than new potatoes because they are bigger. Slice them lengthways as thinly as you can, or use a mandoline.
Serve with salad and a mild cheese like Ossau Irraty or Manchego and membrillo.

Ingredients
500g onion, thinly sliced
750g waxy potatoes, scrubbed (not peeled) and sliced thinly, 3mm thickness
3 eggs, beaten
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 tbs fresh oregano, chopped

Method
Boil the potatoes for seven minutes in salted water. They should be just cooked, but not falling apart. While they are cooking, gently fry the onions in oil and a pinch of salt until they are soft, sweet and browning.

Drain the potatoes and put them back into the dry pan over a low heat for a couple of minutes. This is so they dry out as wet potatoes will cause you trouble. Don’t take your eyes off of them or they will burn. Mix in the cooked onions and stir in the beaten eggs and pepper, do this gently so you don’t break up the potatoes.

Heat the oil in a decent non-stick frying pan. Once the oil is hot, add the potato, onion and egg mixture, squashing it down into the pan a little. Turn the heat to medium and wait for the eggs to cook. Use a spatula or fish slice to look under the tortilla.

Once it is browning, you are ready to turn it over. Loosen the tortilla all the way round with a blunt knife. Turn the heat off, place a large plate over the pan and a rolled up tea-towel over that. Turn the pan upside down, the tortilla should come out cleanly. Wipe the pan down with kitchen towel and heat another tablespoon of oil. Once hot, slide in the tortilla to cook the other side. Once both sides are cooked, serve onto a plate, season with salt and oregano. Wait for it to cool. You can serve it at room temperature or cold.

Variations
Add 1/2 red pepper, thinly sliced and cooked with the onions.
Add a clove of garlic to cook with the onions.
Add a couple of slices of Serrano ham, shredded.
Add chives or parsley instead of oregano