We’ve taken inspiration from the classic Lancashire butter pie, but given ours a little twist. Feel free to swap the Lancashire cheese for a sharp Cheddar if you prefer.
We've taken the traditional Lancashire butter pie – a hearty dish filled with tender potatoes and onions – and given it a modern twist, by adding sharp Lancashire cheese, ripe pears, and crunchy walnuts. A perfect harmony of savoury and sweet, this is a recipe to return to time and time again, whether enjoyed fresh from the oven or cold as part of a picnic spread.
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Yields:
8 serving(s)
Prep Time:
30 mins
Cook Time:
1 hr
Total Time:
1 hr 30 mins
Cal/Serv:
670
Ingredients
For the pastry
400g
Plain flour, plus extra to dust
100g
Butter, chilled and cubed
100g
Lard, cubed
For the filling
750g
Maris Piper potatoes, sliced into 3mm rounds
50g
butter
2
Large onions, thinly sliced
2
Pears, peeled, cored and cut into 3mm slices
75g
Walnut halves, roughly chopped
175g
Lancashire cheese, we used Kirkham's
1
Medium egg, beaten
Directions
Step 1To make the pastry, pulse the flour, butter and lard in a food processor until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add 4tbsp cold water and pulse again until just clumping together. Tip on to a lightly floured surface and knead briefly until pasty comes together. Shape into a disc, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 1hr.
Step 2Meanwhile make the filling. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the potato slices and cook for 6min, until tender but still holding their shape. Drain and leave to cool before patting dry with a clean tea towel or kitchen paper. Set aside.
Step 3Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat and cook onions for 10min, until softened. Set aside until needed.
Step 4Preheat oven to 200ºC (180ºC fan) mark 6. Lightly dust a work surface with flour and roll out 2/3 of the pastry and use to line a deeply-fluted 23cm (9in) loose-bottomed tart tin. Arrange a layer of potatoes in the base, followed by a layer of pears and some onion mixture. Crumble over a little of the cheese and scatter over some walnuts. Repeat layering until you have used up all the ingredients.
Step 5Roll out remaining 1/3 of the pastry on a lightly floured work surface until large enough to cover top of tart tin. Lay over filling, trim if needed and press edges together to seal. Brush visible pastry with beaten egg, then cut a couple of slits in the top with a sharp knife.
Step 6Cook for 50min, or until golden. Allow to stand in tin for 5min, then carefully remove from tin and serve warm or at room temperature.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
