Stuffing Top Pie and Watercress Roulade

I sometimes use packet ingredients when preparing meals and still turn out good results. Not as virtuous as making everything, but sometimes time (and occasionally skill) are a factor. For instance, I rarely make pastry and my life simply isn’t long enough to make proper puff-pastry and I’m not skilled enough for filo.

There are other items too. For instance, stocks are always useful to have but not always available. So does one spend ½ an hour making stock when you only need 100ml, or does one resort to an instant cube or powder – there are many of both on the market and many are made with unadulterated ingredients. Likewise stuffings. They now come in many variations from the traditional Sage & Onion. Again, many can be found with wholesome and unadulterated ingredients. So in this recipe, I use stock and stuffing.

See what you think. This takes about 40 minutes

You will need for 4:

Ingredients

For the Pie

1 170g packet stuffing mix – I used “Rosemary and Redcurrant”, which worked very well
150g Soya or Quorn mince
2 large onions coarsely chopped
2 medium peppers sliced
1 clove garlic crushed
2cm fresh ginger thinly sliced or grated
200ml stock
500g small potatoes sliced about ½cm thick (scrub but don’t peel)
100g Feta cheese
Olive oil for frying

For the Roulade

4 medium free-range eggs
50g fresh watercress
4 tsps sesame oil
4 tsps sesame seeds
Groundnut oil for frying

Method

Pie

· Switch the oven on to 220°C
· Gently fry the onions for 5 minutes and then add the peppers and continue to fry until the onions are soft and transparent.
· Boil the potato slices for 5-10 minutes until just soft. Be careful not to overcook as they will disintegrate.
· Prepare the stuffing as directed on the pack.
· Fry the Soya mince with the crushed garlic and ginger until just browned. Then add the stock, boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
· In an ovenproof dish, put all the onion and pepper mixture on the bottom. Then make another layer from all the Soya and garlic and pour in all the remaining stock. Next spread the stuffing over the top as a “crust”. Then place the potato slices on the stuffing, overlapping them like roof tiles. Liberally paint with oil so they will crisp in the oven. And finally, crumble the feta over the top.
· Cook for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are browned.

Roulade

· Use a 10” omelette pan. Pour in a good layer of oil and get quite hot but not smoking. NOTE Groundnut oil gets a lot hotter than Olive oil before it starts to smoke and should be used for things like stir-fries where a higher heat is required.
· In a bowl put 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds and some ground black pepper. Then whisk until foamy.
· Before the foam breaks down again, pour into the omelette pan and make sure the bottom is covered. Cook quickly but don’t burn. And after 1 minute start to free the omelette from the sides of the pan and base and once it moves freely, flip over and repeat on the other side.
· Remove from the pan and cover with a half of the watercress.
· Roll up and cut in half · Repeat for the next omelette.

The pie and the omelette look quite attractive and the dishes seem to work well, the nuttyness of the omelette goes surprisingly well with the raw watercress and the stuffing, potatoes, mince and onions give the pie a “Sunday-dinner” feel.

Dave Wardell

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