As we set off for school this morning the weather report announced the temperature had dipped to a chilly ten degrees, made worse by a cold wind and steady drizzle of rain. For people living in Europe this would be laughable, but in Australian cities we pull out our winter woollies and grimace at this type of a cold spell.

Right on cue, just as the weather report ended, the children started discussing dinner – yes, at 7:45 in the morning! I guess it’s a natural response to start imagining warming dishes on a winter’s day. Surprisingly I already had dinner all figured out because last night in the quiet of the house after my tribe had fallen asleep, I flicked through a stack of magazines looking for meal ideas. Inspiration came courtesy of a tasty looking photo of a beef pie by Maggie Beer in this month’s The Australian Women’s Weekly magazine. Now I had several robust root vegetables in the fridge that I wanted to put to good use, so although I didn’t follow the actual recipe published in this magazine, the delectable image was enough to make the dinner making decision a cinch. I decided to incorporate the deep orange sweet potato, two creamy parsnips, two potatoes, and three large sweet carrots with half a bunch of fresh basil into another one of my “go to” recipes – Beef Goulash (recipe posted on 17th May). This makes an incredibly hearty, flavoursome pie filling, thus becoming my Beef, Basil and Winter Veg Pie. 

On the way home I picked up two kilograms of freshly diced beef chuck from Chilcott’s Butchery and my mother made the pie filling. I usually have rolls of ready made Careme pastry in the freezer, but all that was left was a pink coloured box of sweet shortcrust. No good for a Beef, Basil and Winter Veg Pie. So out came the Magimix food processor along with the ingredients for Cream Cheese Pastry. This is a reliable favourite of mine sourced from one of Margaret Fulton’s original cookbooks called, My Very Special Cookbook. I remember making this pastry as a teenager, cutting small rounds and stuffing each with a buttery sautéed mushroom mixture that would puff up beautifully to form golden mushroom turnovers. This recipe for Cream Cheese Pastry results in the most gloriously silky, smooth, easy to handle pastry that is perfect as a cover for robust bases such as my Beef, Basil and Winter Veg Pie or any chunky, meat-based pie dish. I made a double quantity, because I wanted to freeze half for another time. The only changes I have made from the Margaret Fulton recipe is that I harness the efficiency of my food processor rather than relying on my hands and I also add half a teaspoon of sea salt. 

Cream Cheese Pastry 
This will make enough to cover a large pie suitable for 8 people with a portion left over to freeze and use within a month. Alternatively you may like to make two smaller 20 cm pies, each feeding 4 people or even halve the recipe altogether if cooking for a smaller group. 

Ingredients
250 g cream cheese
250 g unsalted butter
3 cups plain flour – I use the 00 Western Milling fine flour which gives a superior result.
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

The butter and cream cheese need to be at room temperature, so take them out of the fridge 30 minutes before you start to make the pastry. It helps to cut them into 2 cm cubes. 

Place the cream cheese, butter and salt in a food processor and blitz until combined and smooth. 

Add the flour and mix until well combined. You will find that it is necessary to scrape down the sides of the bowl and use the “pulse” option on your processor to thoroughly combine the ingredients into a smooth, pliable mixture.

Remove from the bowl and place in a clean plastic bag – I use freezer bags for this. Flatten slightly and place in the fridge for at least an hour. This will stop the pastry from shrinking while it bakes. 

Remove the pastry from the fridge 1 hour prior to when you are ready to cover your pie. This will allow it to soften slightly enabling it to be rolled out easily.

Lightly dust your clean bench and rolling pin with flour and roll out the dough so that it is slightly larger than your pie dish/s. I like my pastry to be rather substantial, especially when it’s being used over a robust mixture, so I rolled mine out to a thickness of 1 cm. Gently lift and place the pastry over your pie filling and trim the edges with a sharp knife. Using an ordinary dinner fork, press along the edge of the pastry sealing it against the dish and creating a pretty effect. 

Beat a small egg and brush this over the entire surface of the pastry including over the fork-decorated edging. This will further seal the pie and add a golden glow during the baking process. Cut 2 slits in the top of the pie to allow steam to escape. 

Place in a preheated oven at 225 degrees fan bake mode, and bake for 20 – 25 minutes. 

I like to eat this pie with a mixed garden salad and home made spiced tomato chutney. The children are happy to include the salad but prefer a squirt of tomato sauce over chutney – typical!