Red Onion & Saint Agur Pie


Lattice top cheese and onion pie with crumbled blue cheese and deep purple red onion visible underneath
Credit: Saint Agur

The ideal accompaniment to cold, dark nights! Sweet, caramelised red onions perfectly balance the savoury saltiness of Saint Agur in this classic winter-warmer cheese and onion pie. The addition of turmeric to the pastry gives both a lovely golden glow and an extra, subtle facet of flavour. Mmm…

Serves 4-6

Preparation time: 30min plus 2hrs chilling

Cooking time: 1hr

  1. To make the pastry, mix the turmeric with the flour, salt, sesame seeds and chunks of butter. Add the cold water, little by little, mixing to get a consistent texture. Create a ball with the mixture and wrap it in cling film. Leave to rest in the fridge for at least 2hrs.
  2. For the filling, peel and slice the onions. In a large pan, melt the butter with the olive oil and add the sliced onions. Add salt and pepper and cook for 10-15min on a medium heat. Sprinkle the sugar on top of the onions and cook for a further 10-15min until the onions become slightly caramelised. Set aside to cool.
  3. Take the pastry out of the fridge and roll it out.
  4. Preheat the oven to 180C (fan 160C)..
  5. Grease a 22 x 25cm tin with butter. Roll out the pastry to 2/3mm thickness, then use two thirds of the pastry to line the tin. Be careful to ensure that the pastry sticks to the side of the tin.
  6. Fill the case with the onion mixture and scatter the blue cheese in small pieces on top.
  7. Cut the remaining pastry into 1cm wide strips. Arrange the strips on top of the pie, crossing them to create a grid.
  8. Cook the pie for 30-35min in the oven. Once you take it out, leave it to cool for 15min before serving with salad.