Potato mushroom pie

The definition of comfort food: a layer of sauteed mushrooms enclosed in cheesy mashed potatoes.
We found this in Jekka’s Herb Cookbook by Jekka McVicar. It’s a big recipe – a 7 x 11 inch glass baking dish works well. Cooking and mashing the potatoes plus making the filling can be time-consuming, so use whatever labour-saving devices you have. For extra flavour, mash the potatoes with basil butter.


Filling ingredients

3 ½ Tbsp. butter, plus more for greasing
¾ lb./350 g mushrooms (for about 6 cups sliced)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
½ tsp. dried thyme, ¾ tsp. dried marjoram, a bit of dried mint and a pinch of nutmeg
1 Tbsp. chopped parsley
Salt and pepper
7 oz/200 g cheese, cut into small pieces (for about 1 ½ c. small pieces)

Mash ingredients

3 lb. potatoes
3 ½ Tbsp. butter
1/3 c. hot milk
2 eggs, beaten
2 ½ oz (75 g) Parmesan, divided

Preheat the oven to 375F (190C) and butter a large ovenproof dish.

Do the mushrooms: wipe off the mushrooms and cut into thick slices (for about 6 cups). Fry them with the butter, garlic and dried herbs until golden and tender. Stir in the parsley, salt and pepper.

Do the mash: Everyone has their own way of cooking potatoes. This is our method: scrub the potatoes, trim off any green bits and remove large eyes with the tip of a potato peeler. Peel them if you like. Slice each potato in half lengthways, then into 1 cm. slices crossways. Boil the potatoes in a large pot for 10 minutes, or until mashable.

Mash the potatoes with the butter and hot milk and stir in the beaten eggs and 2/3 of the Parmesan.

Assemble: Smooth half of the mashed potatoes over the bottom of the dish, scatter with the cheese, then add the cooked mushrooms and all their cooking juices. Top with the remaining mashed potato, smooth it out and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

Variation
We have been known to replace the mushrooms with a bunch of chard, chopped and cooked gently with olive oil and garlic.