Hubble bubble, soup’s in trouble
Riding a broomstick can be breezy work, especially at this time of the year, so to ward off the winter chill I decided to conjure up a warming brew. Jamie’s English onion soup seemed a good place to start but it looked far too appetising to serve my creepy coven.

Ditching the conventional crouton, I fashioned a skull shape out of a thickly set crust and topped with a generous helping of grated Gruyere. After a few minutes under the grill my skull was starting to soften, scrumptiously oozing with strings of slimy cheese.

Ready for service and bored by my selection of bowls I turned my attention back to the pumpkin. Sturdy enough to withstand heat and cavernous enough to act as a cauldron, I hollowed out the insides leaving the wall at least an inch thick. A punctured pumpkin would lead to a messy kitchen so any creative carvings were left for the lanterns but the creepy cauldron made a great centrepiece.

A witches’ brew
Now for the drafts: every witch likes a drink especially a spicy one to put hairs on her chest. I grabbed some bottled potions and some sticks of festive spice and brewed up some blood coloured mulled wine. Devilishly delicious but not quite spooky enough, I drizzled my glasses with dark red damson jam and added a sprinkle of sugar to make them sparkle in the night.

Bobbing for body parts
With supper sorted it was time to get my entertainment in gear. No spectre worth his salt would go dunking for fruit so I decided to give apple bobbing a slimy twist. Instead of filling my bowl with water I bubbled up some lime jelly and instead of apples I used fruity eyeballs fashioned from blueberries and grapes. This jellied eyeball recipe looked gruesome and tasted great. OK, so my guests had to nibble their way through rather than dunk into the dessert but we were all left deliciously messy and on a slight sugar high.

Hungry for more fiendish feasting? Check out all 4Food’s Halloween recipes

Treat your tastebuds to some butterbeer

Unlike Midge and Bono, we stopped short of trying to feed the world and instead concentrated our efforts on feeding our office, with the various odds and end left languishing in our cupboards at home. Rather than splash our cash in the local lunchtime eateries we vowed to make the most of leftovers that otherwise would end up in the bin.

The request got a mixed reception initially, with schoolday memories of pilchards and custard needing some heavyweight PR. But after exorcising various Harvest Festival horrors with some gruelling group therapy the office eventually got on board.

Here’s what we got:
1 x tin beef and vegetable soup
2 x tin sweetcorn
1 x tin tuna
1 x tin sardines
1 x tin chickpeas
1 mini tin spicy chilli paste
1 x packet boquerones
1 x box pasta
½ packet couscous
½ packet polenta
½ jar curry paste
½ packet spinach
5 mushrooms
2 chillies
Some anya potatoes
1 x tin of mystery
1 x tin peaches
Garlic paste
Creamed coconut
Some cinnamon sugar
The remnants of a bottle of port
Half a pot of Hellmann’s mayo

Cinnamon sardines
We had 10 hungry mouths to feed and had promised them a lunch of at least two courses. With no concoction utilising all the ingredients immediately springing to mind, we opted for some Spanish-style tapas action served up buffet style with a humble peach pud for dessert.

The menu included a beef chilli pasta utilising the canned soup and port, some spicy chickpeas with shredded spinach, sardine pasta with the blow-your-head-off chilli paste, grilled polenta cakes with a little extra spice, couscous with tuna, sweetcorn and chilli, mushrooms, spinach and garlic boqerones, all finished off with grilled coconut peaches topped with cinnamon sugar.

OK so it was a bit of a spicy carb fest and admittedly the plates came across somewhat beige (as every buffet lunch should) but on the whole it was a success. It’s amazing the difference a little spice makes and forcing ingredients to work harder often makes for crisper, cleaner tastes.

Perhaps our office is an atypical bunch of frivolous, throw-away folk who care less than the average man about hunger and waste. But I doubt it. All of the ingredients were the classic contenders left festering forgotten at the back of the cupboard. With £10 billion of food wasted in Britain every year it’s time to make the most of those pilchards and pickles.

Check out our recipes below and let us know if you think you could have done better.

Browse 4Food’s luscious leftover recipes

Read more about Britain’s food waste

Recipes

Curried chickpeas with spinach
Boil the chickpeas in a pan of water for about 5 minutes or until tender.
Drain then stir in two handfuls of pre-washed spinach and a generous teaspoon of curry paste.

Spicy tuna couscous
Make the couscous as per packet instructions. Finely chop a fresh red chilli, drain 1 can of tuna and two cans of sweetcorn and stir through the couscous. Feel free to perk up the couscous with vinegar and stock should you have any to hand.

Chilli beef pasta with port
Cook the pasta as per packet instructions. Pour over a can of beef and vegetable soup. Add a generous splash of port and heat through, stirring occasionally.

Spinach, mushroom and garlic boquerones
Scatter uncooked spinach across a plate. Heat a tbsp olive oil in a pan, add chopped mushrooms, garlic paste and parsley (if you have some). Remove from pan and scatter over spinach. Place boquerones into pan and return to heat for 2 or 3 minutes. When heated through add to the spinach and mushrooms.

Spicy sardine pasta
Cook pasta as per packet instructions. Stir in tinned sardines, 1 tablespoon spicy chilli paste and a handful of washed spinach.

Curried potato salad
Wash potatoes and cook in boiling water for 20 minutes or until tender. Drain and leave to cool. Stir in 4 tablespoons mayonnaise and 2 tablespoons curry paste.

Grilled coconut peaches with cinnamon sugar
Drain peaches and place in an ovenproof dish. Crumble creamed coconut into a jug and add a splash of milk to make a runny paste. Pour over the peaches, cover with a generous sprinkle of cinnamon sugar and grill until golden brown.

I know it might take a while before they’re mopping up gravy with Aunt Bessie’s finest batter, so to get the ball rolling I’ve given a few Italian classics a little Yorkshire blush.

Move over, dough boy
While the Italians will probably be sceptical about tinkering with their trademark design, I think the pizza could be improved by giving it a Yorkshire pudding base. It’s a common complaint of the Sunday cook: you open the oven too early and your puddings refuse to rise. Using this logic I took an ultimate Yorkshire recipe and poured the mixture into a large pudding tin – and allowing air into the oven ensured my pud stayed firm but flat. A few classic Italian toppings later and a stint under the grill and I was left with a lusciously light pizza that tasted fluffy and fab. No dough belly for me, just plenty of room to justify that second slice.

The jewel in the vol-au-vent crown
I’ve long been convinced by the Yorkshire pudding’s vessel credentials and am amazed it’s not utilised more often as an edible, crispy cup. The South Africans have bunny chow so why can’t we have the batter bowl? Putting my crockery design skills to the test I cooked up a classic Italian stew and served it up Yorkshire-style. No seepage, no mess – just a scrumptious and hearty snack.

Stick a spork in it
Whet it comes to traditional Italian desserts tiramisu is a bit of a Don. Coffee-soaked sponge fingers topped with mascarpone and cream – devilishly delicious it may be, but surely it can only benefit by getting the Yorkshire look? After slipping a teaspoon of cold coffee into my batter mix I popped the lot in a large pudding tin and baked in a similar way to the pizza base above. As it started to brown I sprinkled over some sugar crystals to give it an extra sweet edge, then followed the steps for a classic tiramisu. The pudding substitute worked a treat, like a cross between a pancake and choux pastry. The only downside – it was tricky to eat. Spork anyone?

Find out more about Dolce Vito – Dream Restaurant

Try more British recipes

Having previously created a Christmas dinner pizza I feel I’ve covered that most typically British meal – the roast – and learnt that, whilst tasty, a roast meat and gravy pizza is a bit, well, brown. This time I opted for more vibrant dishes and baked a Ploughman’s lunch pizza, an English breakfast pizza and – for afters – a trifle pizza.

Bring on the Branstons
Since cheese is a key component of the Ploughman’s, the transition from salad to pizza was not too earth-shattering. The final creation looked like a vinegar-charged version of the classic tomato-free pizza bianca. Apple sauce and pickle added moistness and man-sized chunks of quality ham made this a dish fit for the hungriest farm hand.

The Full English
And so to breakfast. If there’s a better hangover cure than this, I want to see it. Sure, the base layer of beans makes it a knife and fork job, but what’s a little cutlery between pan-European friends? For maximum breakfast satisfaction, the bacon and black pudding were pre-grilled and the baking tray buttered for a sort of fried-bread-meets-toast effect. But the star of this show is the egg. Crack a free-range uovo into a mug then carefully tip it onto the pizza and pop it all into the oven – the white is free from fried-egg rubberiness and the yolk was perfect for dipping crust soldiers into.

Good’un for puddin’
Domino’s launched an Oreo pizza in the States but UK pizzerias are less bothered about indulging our sweet tooth. Having tried this pudding pizza I really don’t know why. It’s fantastic. It truly is. In fact, one tester thought it was better than actual trifle because it had bite without the unpleasant mouth-feel of soggy sponge cake. If you’re making it prepare for a gooey, sloppy mouthful you’ll definitely want seconds of. Don’t forget the hundreds and thousands though – it’s just not a proper trifle pizza without them.

DIY Britalian pizzas

All bases were made using Jamie’s pizza dough recipe

Ploughman’s lunch pizza
Serves 2

Ingredients
250g grated Cheddar
5 large pickled onions, sliced
5 tbsp apple sauce
5 tbsp pickle
150g thickly cut ham
200g watercress

Method: How to make Ploughman’s lunch pizza

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Roll out the dough and place onto a lightly greased baking tray.

2. Scatter the grated Cheddar over the base and arrange all the other toppings – except the watercress – in an attractive manner on top of the cheese.

3. Bake for 20 minutes.

4. Scatter watercress over the top and tuck in.

Full English breakfast pizza
Serves 2

Ingredients
5 rashers streaky bacon
150g black pudding
3 tomatoes, sliced
1 tbsp butter
1 tin of baked beans
1 free range egg

Method: How to make full English breakfast pizza

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

2. Grill the bacon and black pudding until they are fully cooked.

3. Fry the tomatoes until they are soft and about to caramelise at the edges.

4. Butter the baking tray and roll out the pizza dough.

5. Spread the baked beans over the pizza base and top with the bacon, black pudding and tomatoes.

6. Crack the egg into a mug and carefully tip it out onto the centre of the pizza. Keep the lip of the mug as close as possible to the pizza to help keep the egg in one piece.

7. Bake for 20 minutes.

Trifle pizza
Serves 2

Ingredients
25g golden caster sugar
250ml custard
298g tin mandarin segments
100g strawberry jelly
Whipped cream
Glacier cherries
Hundreds and thousands

Method: How to make trifle pizza

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

2. Roll out the dough and place onto a lightly greased baking tray.

3. Sprinkle the sugar over the base and bake for 3-5 minutes until the sugar starts to cook into the dough.

4. Remove from the oven and cover the base with custard. Scatter the mandarin slices over the custard topping.

5. Bake for 15 minutes.

6. When ready, remove the pizza from the oven and top with whipped cream, cherries and hundreds and thousands.

Find out more about Dolce Vito – Dream Restaurant

Try more British recipes

I really love chips shops. Not just because of the crispy batter dripping in fat or the scrumptious squidgy chips, though those are mighty fine. But for me it’s all about the curious array of chip shop extras you find languishing in jars or vats behind the counter.

I once dated a man from Wigan who actually asked for ‘pea wet’ – the watery juice that’s left behind when you dish out mushy peas – with his chips. (He also called a steak and kidney pudding a ‘babby’s head’ but we won’t go there.) Whatever your taste persuasion; pickled eggs, gravy, curry sauce, there’s a host of opportunities behind that counter, all for under a £1.

Chippies are one of the things that make me most proud to be British. They’re an institution other nationalities can only look upon with envy. What’s the Swedish equivalent of a battered sausage? Do the Dutch feel bereft without mushy peas? Eager to understand the woes felt by our foreign cousins I went on a hunt to discover the dirty and divine chip accompaniments served around the world.

Turning fries French
Now the French obviously know a thing or two about fries so I was expecting their offering to be impressive – and I wasn’t disappointed. Remoulade is a bit like a mixture between tartare sauce and mayonnaise and is commonly served avec frites across the Channel. Fresh, light and luscious, it tasted delicious with chips and would make a winning partner to any battered fish.

The Dutch go nuts
When I think satay I think chicken, but not so in the Netherlands. It’s common practice in Holland to purchase a portion of chips with a side order of peanut sauce. Sweet and savoury, on soggy chips? I wasn’t convinced. The texture of semi-soft sauce and squidgy chip set my teeth on edge but my opinion was by no means the mainstream. Lots of my tasting panel loved it. Maybe one for the walk back from the pub?

Now to get really filthy
A popular chip accompaniment in Quebec is poutine; a rich sauce made from gravy and curd cheese. Now, I love gravy and I love cheese, but together, on chips? According to the Canadians on the panel you’d only eat it if you were very cold or very drunk. I was neither but astonishingly it didn’t taste too bad. It didn’t look great but it had a creamy, spicy quality that was not altogether unpleasant. In fact the Scottish members of the panel loved it. But then we all know what happens in their chip shops…

So the verdict: mayo and pickle, good; peanuts and chips, less so; and gravy with cheese, curiously, maybe. Hats off to the brave contenders; they gave it their best effort. But rest easy curry sauce, your job is safe.

Try them for yourself…

Remoulade recipe
Ingredients
2 tbsp chopped cornichon
1 tbsp chopped capers
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp chopped tarragon
1 tbsp chopped chives
1 tbsp chopped Dijon mustard
Approx 4 tbsp mayonnaise or to taste

Method: How to make remoulade
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and serve.

Click here for our satay sauce recipe

Poutine recipe
Ingredients
A handful of cheese curd diced
A cupful of gravy
Portion of chips

Method: How to make poutine
Scatter the cheese over your chips and pour on the gravy. It really is that simple and, erm, delicious.

There’s something mystical about a barbecue, even though it’s essentially just a rack over heat. A barbecue uses fire and fire cooks anything. So why stop short at some chicken on a stick?

Eggs over easy
In for a penny in for a pound, where better to start than the most fragile of foodstuffs: the egg. You can go to work on an egg, but can you barbecue one? Apparently yes; with the help of some foil.

I folded my tin foil into a small lipped square then drizzled a little oil on the base to stop it sticking. After letting the foil heat for a few minutes, I cracked my egg straight onto the square and within four minutes I had a perfect fried egg.

The way of the Breville
Eager to toast my barbecue skills some more, I decided to try pimping my pack up and see what’d happen if I threw a sandwich on to sizzle. After rustling up a quick mozzarella, tomato and basil butty, I placed the lot on the hot coals. Alas, only a fool forgets the way of the Breville. Like all self-respecting former students I know my way around a toasted sandwich maker, and am fully aware you need to butter both sides. Within seconds my toast was burnt to a crisp, while my Mediterranean middle was still stone cold. After buttering up a second butty, I went again and this time created an oozing masterpiece.

Plans are foiled
For the final finale I fancied something flash, so I rooted through the 4Food recipes to find this gnocchi classic that stipulated you finished it off under the grill. Perhaps it’d work as well on the barbie, creating a delicious doughy fritter? With hindsight I should have mashed the mix together a little, or perhaps bound the batch with a little egg. Unfortunately, I merely spooned my mix on to the barbecue and watched it fall apart in a sloppy mess. To be fair it tasted fine, but no better than from the pan – so it wasn’t worth the hassle.

It seems the barbecue has its limits, but they lay a little wider than you’d expect. Most things are feasible with foil and, as long as it’s sturdy, it should work straight over the coals. My favourite find was the barbecued egg; firm without those greasy, frazzled edges, and perfect on a barbecued burger.

Try more exciting barbecue recipes

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Few things spruce up a salad better than a subtle summer dressing, but a cruise down the supermarket condiment isle throws up all the subtlety of a glamour model’s wedding. From blue cheese and garlic dressing to strawberry and Champagne vinaigrette, there’s no end to the pungent creations you can pour over your picnic.

So if Champagne can be used to snazz up your side dishes, why not a bit of port on your cold potatoes or some cider on your salad? Much like Jordan in a bridal shop, 4Food laughed in the face of subtlety and created some mouth-watering marinades way beyond the mainstream.

Gorging on garlic
Red wine and garlic taste delicious in a warm jus – but how would they fare as a cold condiment combo? Having mixed them together with a little Dijon mustard we tried them over salad leaves, potatoes and bread. While the pungent bulb made our lettuce wilt in fear, the sauce tasted delicious sprinkled over spuds. It would also make a great marinade for barbecued meat.

A cider of salad
Inspired by a myriad of apple and celery marinades, we got to wondering how a celery dressing would fair with a little scrumpy kick. A mix of cider vinegar, celery and a bit more cider to boot created a delicate little dressing, perfect for perking up a simple bean salad. You could add a little mustard too for a more substantial drizzling sauce.

Should I cocoa?
You wouldn’t eat a Twix with your lettuce, so the idea of chocolate on salad seemed pretty grim. But in homage to Channel 4 chocolatier, Willie Harcourt-Cooze, we thought we’d give it a try and mixed some liquid dark chocolate with a generous helping of balsamic vinegar. Having predicted a thick, gloopy sauce that would drown any delicate meal, we were delighted to discover it made the perfect partnership. Taking the edge off the acidic vinegar it left a rounded robust flavour that worked surprising well with delicate leaves.

Last port of call
Just like Morecambe and Wise, port and Stilton are a brilliant duo only appreciated at Christmas. The rich, heavy tones make them perfect winter treats, but how would they fair as a lighter, summer dressing? We mixed the pair with a little crème fraiche and red wine vinegar to create a sauce that looked like blueberry smoothie. Despite the confusing appearance, it tasted light and luscious and was perfect drizzled over potatoes.

The nation’s cupboards are home to a host of forgotten ingredients that, with a little creative thinking, can help spruce up the simplest of salads. We’re not suggesting you start daubing your rocket with a bucket load of ketchup. But there’s nothing wrong with a little trial and error. Go forth and experiment.

Garlic and red wine dressing recipe
Makes 275ml

Ingredients
4 cloves garlic crushed
50ml red wine vinegar
75ml red wine
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
150ml olive oil
Salt and black pepper to season

Method: How to make garlic and red wine dressing recipe
Put the crushed garlic into a measuring jug and pour over the red vine vinegar, red wine and mustard. Stir to make a thin paste. Add the oil, stir and season to taste.

Cider and celery dressing recipe
Makes 350ml

Ingredients
3 sticks celery
100ml cider vinegar
200ml olive oil
50-100ml apple cider
Salt and black pepper to season

Method: How to make cider and celery dressing
Finely chop the celery sticks, then crush 2 of the sticks in a garlic crusher until you’re left with the juice and a little pulp. Add the cider vinegar and oil and mix together add the cider to taste and the remaining celery. Stir and season to taste.

Tip: To thicken the sauce, try adding a teaspoon of Dijon mustard.

Dark chocolate and balsamic vinegar dressing
Makes 200ml

Ingredients
2tbsp liquid dark chocolate or freshly melted chocolate
100ml balsamic vinegar
50ml olive oil

Method: How to make chocolate and balsamic vinegar dressing
Mix the chocolate and balsamic vinegar together and stir in the oil to make a smooth, thin paste.

Port and Stilton dressing
Makes 250ml

Ingredients
100g Stilton
2 tbsp crème fraiche
50ml port
50ml red wine vinegar
50ml olive oil
Salt and black pepper to season

Method:How to make port and Stilton dressing
Mix the Stilton with the crème fraiche and stir to make a smooth paste. Pour the port and red wine vinegar into a separate jug and then gradually add the Stilton paste, stirring out as many lumps as possible. Stir in the oil and season to taste.

Serve your dressings with these salads from 4Food

First things first – on with a protective paper boiler suit – it’s pretty moist being inside a G&T and you don’t want to spoil your nice clothes.

Once you look like you’re ready to tackle a bio-hazard, it’s time to head downstairs where the music becomes more muffled representing what it would be like to immerse yourself in a glass of booze, a concept created by sound artist, Douglas Murphy.

Vision is restricted in the living-cocktail. As you hit the entrance to the basement you’re hit by a wall of mist, which to be honest, is a little panic inducing – a bit like being out on the moors, hunting the Hound of the Baskervilles with a hip flash full of mother’s ruin, surrounded by the scientists from ET.

As your eyes adjust you get your bearings and it’s a little disappointing to see light fittings and dado rail, kind of like a student party if someone had spilled gin on the carpet and turned up the blow-heater.

Keen to get the most of the gin, fellow revellers were wandering around with open months trying to gulp down the alcoholic vapours. According to co-creator, Harry Parr, you’d have to spend an hour in the gin-haze to inhale the alcoholic equivalent to a shot of gin. “But,” he notes, “it depends how fast you breathe.”

Unless you’re hyperventilating then, a 40 minute session in the drink shouldn’t have too much effect.
“Are you drunk?” Hannah asks 4Food’s editor, Gina.
“No. Are you?”
“No, but look at my face if I put my hood behind my ears. I look like Pob… perhaps I am a bit.”

If you’re thinking about coming here on a date, be warned – vanity is best left at the door. Every burst of mist is pure gin and tonic and the sticky substance creates sticky film that plasters hair to face leaving you looking like a sweaty raver. But since everyone looks equally ridiculous, no-one seems to mind.

“It’s better than my expectations,” says one gin genie. “Can you imagine if you did it with Bacardi Breezers? It would be horrendous.”

Read Sam Bompass’ thoughts on gin, jelly and the science of sense

Read more about Bompas and Parr, creators of the Alchoholic Architecture

The great thing about pies is you can eat the packaging. Not the Fray Bentos tin, numb nut, but the actual pastry case. So not only are they deliciously indulgent but they help to reduce waste too. (That’s waste with an ‘e’, not the other kind, unfortunately.) But while pies themselves are pukka, the fillings inside are in much need of a rethink. Why draw the line at meat and gravy? Or stop recipes short at a pile of stewed fruit? 4Food set out to push the parameters and discover exactly what you can bake in a pie.

Salt and vinegar with your pie?
Despite its ancient origins, you can’t help thinking British when you think pie, so first on the makeover list was the nation’s favourite – fish and chips.

Having decided on a top crust of puff pastry to keep the carb intake down, we parboiled some potatoes and briefly poached some haddock. Then it was simply a case of layering the softened spuds, flaked fish, a tin of mushy peas and some tartar sauce then bunging it in the oven at 180°C for 25 minutes.

OK, it was more fish and mash pie than fish and chip but the smoky fish, buttery pastry and tangy sauce was a match made in marine heaven.

A pie from the East
Next we journeyed east to try our hand at curry pie. Having rustled up a tiger prawn curry and left it to cool, we lined a pie dish with some shortcrust pastry poured our filling inside and topped it with a shortcrust lid. After 20 minutes in the oven we were in for a treat. Think Cornish pasty with extra spice.

Give it the boot
Any culinary venture worth its salt has to charter Italian waters, so we had a crack at a spag Bol pie. Conscious the reworked recipe would be a bit carb-tastic, we slimmed down the spaghetti and snipped it into shortcut pieces. But alas it was in vain. The pasta was dense and chewy, and even a conservative slice was too much on the jaw.

The rules of pie
As pastry is a pretty subtle portal, most meals taste delicious when baked in a pie. It’s just a case of balancing texture. Tinned spaghetti in the Bolognese may have fared better or a simple filling of pasta-free sauce. But whatever the recipe, we’re talking edible litter. Put down your chip wrappers and eat to save the world.

Fish shop pie recipe

Ingredients
500g potatoes, peeled and chopped
250g smoked haddock
300g tin mushy peas
A pinch of dried mint
A few dollops of tartar sauce
160g puff pastry
Milk for poaching
Beaten egg for glazing

Method: How to make fish shop pie
Parboil the potatoes for about 10 minutes until just starting to soften. Meanwhile place the fish in a pan cover with milk and poach gently for about five minutes. Take the fish off the heat and leave to cool slightly.

Place the softened potatoes on the base of a pie dish giving them a slight mash as you lay them down. Drain the fish and place the fish flakes on top of the mash.

Spread the mushy peas on top with a sprinkling of mint and two or three generous dollops of tartar sauce.

Roll out the puff pastry – shop bought is fine – then cover the pie, making a small indentation in the middle and brush with the beaten egg. Bake at 180˚C for between 20 and 25 minutes or until the pastry turns golden brown.

Tiger prawn curry pie recipe

Ingredients
See tiger prawn curry recipe
Plus 300g shortcrust pastry
Beaten egg for glazing

Method: How to make tiger prawn curry pie
Follow the recipe for tiger prawn curry but take the curry off the heat before the prawns are fully cooked.

Leave to cool slightly while you roll out your pastry and butter your pie dish. Line the dish with a pastry casing trimming the excess to serve as a lid.

When the curry is nicely cooled spoon onto the pastry base and top with a pastry lid. Make a small indentation in the centre of the topping, brush with the beaten egg and bake at 180˚C for between 20 and 25 minutes or until the pastry turns golden brown.

Enjoy 4Food’s more conventional pie recipes here

Watch the video of the 2009 Pie Awards