Chestnut and Walnut Pie

Name: Chestnut and Walnut Pie
Yield: Serves 6–8 as a First Course or 4 as a Main Course
Ingredients: 1 clove of garlic, chopped; 1 stick of celery, chopped; 1 small onion, chopped; 1 tablespoon groundnut oil; 175 g/6 oz chestnuts; 50 g/2 oz walnuts, chopped; 50 g/2 oz cashew nuts (or brazils or almonds), chopped; ½ teaspoon each dried thyme and marjoram; finely grated zest of ½ orange; 1 tablespoon brandy; cayenne pepper; salt; 1 egg, beaten, to glaze; 350 g/12 oz puff pastry; Cumberland Sauce to serve; 1 egg

Preparation info

Serves
6–8
as a First Course

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Carved Angel Cookery Book

By Joyce Molyneux

Published 1990

About

This is a main course that I often cook for vegetarians, though meat-eaters always seem to enjoy it just as much. It is lighter than you might imagine, and slices well. Accompanied by Cumberland Sauce, it would make a perfect centrepiece for a vegetarian Christmas lunch.

Ingredients

175 g/6 oz chestnuts
1 tablespoon groundnut oil

Lunch
Starter
Main course
Pie
Vegetarian
Christmas

Method

With a sharp knife, slash the outer skin of each chestnut. Place in a pan with enough cold water to cover. Bring to the boil, and boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Take a couple of chestnuts out of the water and, when they are just cool enough to handle, peel off both the inner and outer skins. Peel the remainder a few at a time, returning the pan to the heat for a few minutes to loosen