The Thrifty Cookbook: 476 Ways to Eat Well With Leftovers by Kate Colquhoun Page B

juicy sauce and close it all up. Once a pie is brushed with egg yolk and baked, it always looks beautiful, resonating with domestic competence.
Somewhere between pastry and bread, pizza dough is simple stuff to make too. There’s no reason to be frightened of yeast, which comes in packets and just gets on with the job once activated with liquid and warmth. If you have one, use a bread-making machine, or you could buy pizza bases (but they tend to be chemical-rich) or use a baguette as your base. Whichever you go for, pizzas are the ultimate convenience food, and very hands-on. Let everyone choose what they want on theirs from an array of leftovers or vegetables that have to be used up fast.

If you decide to make your own shortcrust pastry, which you can also freeze for later, this recipe can be used for virtually all the sweet and savoury pies and tarts that follow. It has a light, crumbly texture and is not complicated to make.
Bear in mind that pastry is one of those things that require precision and light-handedness, so don’t be inventive with the quantities, and don’t over handle it. Work briskly and try to keep everything as cool as possible, using only the tips of your fingers (the coldest part of your hands). If your hands are hot, run them under the cold tap and then dry them before making the pastry. If the oven is on, work as far away from it as you can.
There’s no great magic to rolling pastry, save for the caveat that you should handle it as little as possible. Work fairly swiftly, with an even, gentle pressure on the rolling pin, having dusted both the clean work surface and your rolling pin with a bit of plain flour to prevent the pastry sticking to them – and you will need to re-dust them as you go. You don’t need to turn the pastry over as you roll it; a quarter turn between each rolling will keep it in a roughly even shape.
You’ll find the basic shortcrust pastry recipe overleaf, with ideas for all the things that you can make with it (and blind baking instructions) on pages 112 - 13 .

If you have lard, you can substitute it for half the butter when making savoury pies, but always use butter for sweet ones. And don’t throw out your pastry trimmings – re-shape them into a ball and roll out to make jam tarts, mince pies or cheese straws (see pages 112 - 13 ).
220g plain flour
a pinch of salt
110g unsalted butter, at room temperature but not too soft
about 2½-3 tablespoons chilled water

Sift the flour into a bowl with the salt.

Cut the butter into small lumps.

Rub the butter into the flour, using your fingertips …

… and lifting the mixture up to get as much air into it as possible. Stop as soon as you have a fine mixture that resembles breadcrumbs.

Add the water very slowly and evenly, mixing as you go with a round-bladed knife or a spatula and finally with your hands, until you have a ball of pliable dough that just holds together.

Wrap the pastry in cling film and leave it in the fridge to relax for at least half an hour.

To roll out the pastry, dust both the clean work surface and your rolling pin with a little flour.

Use an even, gentle pressure on the rolling pin, rolling until the pastry is about 3-5mm thick. Chill the pastry in the fridge for at least 20 minutes before filling.

Whatever kind of filling you choose, be it meat, fish, vegetable or fruit, pies come in all shapes and sizes. In every case you should let the pastry rest in the fridge for 20 minutes or so before filling it – this should prevent it shrinking during the cooking time.
It is really important to make sure the filling is cool before using it, so it is useful to make the filling first, allowing it time to cool while you roll and rest the pastry.
Once you have covered a pie with pastry, brush the top with beaten egg or – easier – milk to make it shiny and golden when it emerges from the oven.

Any of the pie filling recipes and variations on pages 115 - 19 can be made up into different kinds of