Top 8: We help you pick your perfect pastry pie
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There’s a time and place for a decent pastry pie, and a chilly evening by the fire when you need comfort fits both criteria. Make no mistake, there are fats in pastry — the simplest version is made from butter, flour, salt and water — so this type of eating belongs to the treat category.
For balance, serve the pie with a fresh salad — finely-grated carrot, diced red onion, and a drained can of chickpeas, which need just a squeeze of lemon. If the salad is substantial, we can share a pie.
Creating our own pie is not difficult as long as you treat the pastry with care. Make it quickly in a blender and chill for at least an hour. It will keep for a few days, and can be rolled out ready for use if you want to get ahead. It has to be cold going into the pre-heated oven, so make sure the filling has cooled before putting the pastry on top. There’s pretty good ready-made pastry available: look for one made with all butter. Shortcrust is flavoursome but slightly heavier than flaky or puff. All are delicious.
Pies can make an easy party food. Recently, at a wedding in London, individual meat pies were a clever, delicious option on the menu. For this Top 8 we chose light meats and vegetarian options.
We tasted three pies, one more delicious than the other. Roasted seasonal vegetables are flavoured with pesto and goat's cheese.
Chunky sweet potatoes meld with rich smoked cheese. Exceptionally tasty chicken thighs are in a cider sauce.
Each pie could easily be shared. Flawless and good value for money, they take an hour to cook from frozen.
From English Market and Black Market, Cork. Easily our top markers.
10
TV chef Tom Kerridge has created an excellent new range here. Lovely, gentle spices linger in the mouth.
Deliciously buttery crust pastry is light but strong enough to hold the generous filling. Tasty chicken leg meat works well with warm spices.
The crispy chicken skin listed wasn’t as noticeable as the interesting mix of seeds on the pastry. Expensive, but good for treat nights.
9
All-butter pastry encases a creamy sauce holding pieces of red pepper, chickpeas, and decent chunks of 7% feta cheese flavoured with herbs de Provence.
A good, flavoursome, meat-free pie.
9
A tall pie finished with a pastry heart looks good.
Chicken is tasty, and there’s just the right amount to balance with the flavoursome wild mushrooms, which have a meaty texture.
All in a rich cream and white wine sauce. Very good. Fair price.
9
Two puff pastry packages aren’t exactly pie-shaped, but the ingredients are similar. The filling is a solid piece of chicken fillet, tasty stuffing and a chunk of ham – no sauce.
Our younger tasters liked this one. A 400g roll is plenty for one – lots of protein here – so this is good value. The light shortcrust pastry crisps up nicely.
9
Shortcrust pastry is buttery and encases Irish chicken and bacon in a sauce flavoured with sage and thyme, but most interestingly, it has good Wexford cheddar cheese.
Founded in 2007 in Wexford, we hadn’t spotted the brand before. We bought in Tesco.
8.5
Chicken 24% is balanced well with 6% Irish ham in a creamy sauce. In a casing of shortcrust pastry, it’s topped with flaky pastry.
It's not big on flavour but pleasant. Widely available. Enough for two to four.
7.5
From the frozen compartment, these pies have richly flavoured brie cheese and plenty of cubed potato, interestingly contrasted with the caramelised onion.
The pastry case is shortcrust with a topping of puff pastry. Each 200g pie is plenty for one — so rich it could be shared.
Reminiscent of the French dish tartiflette (minus the bacon), they are delicious and very good value. Made in Britain.
9.25