Cheesy aubergine and mushroom patchwork pie
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
Cheesy aubergine and mushroom patchwork pie
Topping the pie with little pieces of pastry allows for extra-crispy bits and means the cheese can bubble through the gaps to get nicely browned
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
Spencer Lengsfield
Spencer Lengsfield
Ingredients
- 30g dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 large aubergine
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 large carrot, finely diced
- 2 sticks celery, finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 x 300g pack chestnut mushrooms, diced
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp Henderson’s relish or Worcestershire sauce*
- 1 tsp sugar
- 50ml milk
For the pie crust
- 1 x 320g pack ready-rolled puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten
- 100g mozzarella, grated
- 100g cheddar, grated
- a few thyme sprigs, leaves picked
Step by step
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Put the dried mushrooms in a bowl and pour over 300ml just-boiled water. Set aside to soak for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, char the whole aubergine, either over the flame of a gas hob or under the oven grill. Cook the aubergine until soft on the inside and the skin is charred all over on the outside. Transfer to a bowl, cover with clingfilm and set aside.
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Heat the olive oil in a large casserole or ovenproof saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until softened and fragrant. Stir in the chestnut mushrooms, season well, and cook until just tender. Add the tomato purée and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring. Deglaze with the porcini mushrooms and their soaking water (chop up the rehydrated mushrooms if you prefer), then stir in the chopped tomatoes, the relish or sauce and sugar. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
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Meanwhile, remove the charred skin from the aubergine and roughly chop the soft flesh. Stir into the sauce and cook for a further 15 minutes. It should be quite thick by the end, more like a pie filling than a pasta sauce. Add the milk and stir through. Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6.
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Unroll the puff pastry sheet and brush all over with egg. Cut into 4cm x 3cm rectangles – you should end up with about 64 (you may not need all of them). Top the pie filling with the grated cheese. Arrange the pastry rectangles all over the cheesy mixture, sprinkle with flaky salt and thyme leaves, then bake for 25-30 minutes. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
*Use Henderson’s instead of Worcestershire for vegetarian.
