This pie comes from my time at Llewelyns’s in Herne Hill. A really good veggie option, especially served with a sharp, pickly salad.
Serves 4 as a starter, 2 as a main
whole milk 250ml
double cream 250ml
garlic 2 cloves, grated
thyme 1 tsp, chopped
rosemary 1 tsp, chopped
flaky sea salt a liberal pinch
pepper a crack
Desiree potatoes 5 large, peeled and cut into 5mm slices – do not wash once sliced (so you keep some of the starch which helps bind the dauphinoise together)
all-butter puff pastry 1 packet (2 x 500g sheets)
soft or semi-soft strongly flavoured cow’s milk cheese 100g, sliced
egg wash 1 egg yolk mixed with a splash of milk
For the sharp pickled walnut salad
pickled walnuts 2
olive oil to taste
red wine vinegar 1 tbsp
salt & pepper to season
shallot 1 medium, sliced
red chicory 2, leaves separated
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Place the milk, cream, garlic, herbs and seasonings into a pot on a medium heat and bring to the boil. Add the potatoes and bring back to the boil. Taste for seasoning.
Layer the potatoes in a heavy gratin dish (I use a 22.5cm x 15cm dish that’s 5cm deep). Press down on the assembled potatoes lightly. Applying a bit of pressure to the top before baking ensures that they are compact, cook evenly and will set up, allowing us to cut it to wrap in pastry.
Cover the finished gratin with a layer of parchment paper, then cover the whole thing in foil. Make sure the foil is airtight and tightly pinched at the edges so the potatoes steam in the oven.
Bake for one hour, until the potatoes are tender when pierced. It shouldn’t be too wet as you will be chilling it and wrapping it in pastry. Too much moisture will cause it to leak. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. To assemble the pies, cut the dauphinoise into 4-6 pieces, you should have a compact chunk of dauphinoise.
Aim for 7.5cm squares with a thickness of just under 5cm. (You can of course change the size here depending on how big you want a portion to be.)
Cut large squares of pastry, 25cm x 17.5cm works well, that are 4mm-thick (enough to encase your potatoes). Place a piece of cheese in the middle of the pastry and lay the potato chunk on top. Use the egg wash to paint the edges and wrap it up like a present by taking the two longer sides up over the potatoes to meet overlapping in the middle. Then egg wash and press down the sides so that the potatoes are completely encased.
Flip the parcel over and egg wash the top. Place the parcels on an oven tray lined with greaseproof paper and bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180C/gas mark 4 and bake for a further 20 minutes.
Finally assemble your salad. Chop up the pickled walnuts, add the red wine vinegar and mix together with a few splashes of olive oil. Season to taste and mix with the shallot and chicory leaves.
Serve the pies warm with a sharp pickled walnut salad.
Ravneet Gill is a pastry chef and the founder of Countertalk