Tuna Leek With Hazelnut Crust Pie...A Rustic Pie!

I have been wanting to make a savoury pie, but I always find the reasons not to, ...maybe because I have always been intimidated by the steps to make the crust, the base, hehe.... anyway, I couldn't put off any longer, I am waaaaay long overdue to submit my post to an online magazine! And, I thought, this would be a good one!

I was toying with the idea of making pizzas or this...I'll make pizzas later... and for this savoury pie, I have decided to choose a rustic one, one where the base is made of plain flour and hazelnut flour!....and why tuna and leek and not salmon...I got put off by the salmon fishy smell...I only like the orangey crimson colour, hehe.....anyway, I wanted to make something that close to home, one where all the ingredients are within reach, you see!

For the vegetables, I chose leek, probably the best complement for tuna, and onions, and roasted cherry tomatoes...the onions would have been better tasting if I had sauteed them a bit, but...whatever....I just did what I wanted to do...you know me! And....the recipes were from Dorie and ABC's Delicious magazines which I had tweaked and changed here and there!

Ingredients

For The Hazelnut Shortcrust Pastry

60g hazelnut flour

215g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

1/2 tsp salt

125g chilled butter, chopped...I used Buttercup that came straight from the fridge...ahah!

3-5 tbsp iced water

For The Filling

1 large egg , and 2 large yolks, lightly beaten

150ml double cream

75g cheddar, I used Goon's Extra Tasty Cheddar

A pinch of cinnamon powder

Sprinklings of black pepper

Salt to taste

Half a stalk of leek, sliced

250g cherry tomatoes, roasted

1 onion diced

1 can of tuna flakes in sunflower oil, Ayam Brand

Method

1.For the pastry, mix the hazelnut flour, plain flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter, rub together using your fingers  until the mixtures resembles crumbs...well, you can use a food processor, but I was lazy to wash mine :p. Poour over the iced water, and using a knife, mix until the batter comes together. Add some more water if necessary, you know when you had to add more water ya! Knead briefly to form a soft dough...and please do not knead this batter, or you'll end up with a roti canai dough....nevermind if there were crumbs not sticking together, just pacth them when you were covering you pie dish (tin). I them rolled lightly on a floured surface (my cleaned kitchen top-lah!) and cover my pie dish! I made two batches, so there were enough for 2, 6 inches pie tins and 1, 9 inches pie dish, voila! Then, wrap them with cling film and chill for about 30 minutes....well, I prepared the filling in the mean time!

2.Preheat oven at 200Celcius.

3.Mix the lightly beaten eggs with double cream in a jug, add salt and pepper and cinnamon powder.

4.When 30 minutes wre up, remove the cling film, and blind-bake the pastries for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, and when cool, gently remove them from pie tins/dish.

5.Spread the leek, onions, tomatoes, tuna and cheddar cheese on pastry, add spriknlings of black pepper, and pour the egg and double cream mix just enough to cover the fillings....

6.Turn down heat to 180Celcius, bake until golden brown or the filling just set! Serve hot or chilled!

Well! After all that said and done, it wasn't that difficult to make a delicious rustic pie, and it was a great choice that I added hazelnut flour into the pastry as it gave that added umph, had I chosen a pastry with the bland plain flour! All in all it took me about 30 minutes to prepare the pastry and another 40 minutes for me to prepare the filling and baking...so, come on you alls, make a hearty healthy rustic pie for your loved ones, cheers!