Ploughman's pie
Serves: 6-8
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Martin Poole
Ploughman's pie
An easy, rustic tart inspired by Britain’s favourite pub lunch
Serves: 6-8
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
See more recipes
Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
624Kcal
Fat
40gr
Saturates
16gr
Carbs
47gr
Sugars
14gr
Fibre
5gr
Protein
17gr
Salt
3.1gr
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp oil (e.g. rapeseed)
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
- 1 tsp sugar (any kind)
- 4 medium red onions, each cut into 6 wedges
- 3 ripe medium tomatoes, cut into quarters
- 150g mature cheddar
- 120g thick cut ham (shredded ham hock also works well)
- 12-16 silverskin pickled onions, drained
- 1 tbsp thyme leaves, plus extra to serve
- 1 x 500g block shortcrust pastry
- plain flour to dust
- 175g sweet pickle or chutney of your choice
- beaten egg to glaze
- 10g finely grated Parmesan (or extra cheddar)
- flaky sea salt
Step by step
Get ahead
Assemble the tart a couple of hours ahead and chill before baking. The tart can also be baked a few hours ahead of serving (but keep at room temperature).
- Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6. Mix 11⁄2 tablespoons of oil, the vinegar, sugar and some seasoning in a bowl. Toss in the onion wedges to coat, then spread them out on a shallow baking tray and roast in the oven for 10 minutes. Toss the tomatoes in the remaining 1⁄2 tablespoon of oil in the same bowl and then add to the tray, turning the onions at the same time. Cook for another 10 minutes until everything is slightly softened then remove and cool.
- Cut the cheese and ham into roughly 1cm dice, and halve the silverskin onions. Mix together in a bowl with the thyme leaves (you can use the same bowl as before).
- When the roasted veg have cooled slightly (so that they won’t melt the pastry), assemble the tart. Shape the block of pastry into a fat disc then roll it out on a lightly floured surface to a rough circle, about 38cm in diameter; it doesn’t need to be perfectly shaped.
- Lift the pastry onto a large lined baking tray. Gently press an upturned dinner plate into the centre to easily mark out the filling area; you should have a border around 5cm wide. Spread the pickle in the central circle. Roughly arrange half the red onions and tomatoes over this, then the ham and cheese mixture. Top with the rest of the cooked onions and tomatoes.
- Fold the edges of the pastry up over the filling, leaving the centre open and pleating as you go. Brush the outside of the pie with beaten egg, sprinkle this border with Parmesan and a little flaky sea salt.
- Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp. Leave to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving – it’s good eaten either warm or at room temperature. Scatter with extra thyme and cut the pie into wedges.
