Homity Pie (Cheesy Potato and Leek Pie)
If you’re not familiar with homity pie, let me introduce you:
Homity pie is a traditional British recipe, which is essentially a cheesy potato and leek pie. It’s just the sort of thing we Brits do perfectly – simple ingredients, combined to make incredible comfort food. Say what you like about British food, but it’s hard to argue with buttery sautéed leeks, cheesy crushed potatoes, and a flaky shortcrust pastry case.
I’m not going to lie, this homity pie is a bit of a labour of love. It’s not a quick weeknight meal like most of my recipes – this cheesy pie is definitely one to save for a special occasion (it would be perfect for a vegetarian Christmas dinner!).
Since cooking this pie takes a bit of time and patience, don’t try to cook it against the clock. Give yourself plenty of leeway – perhaps an afternoon where you’ve not got much else on. That way, it doesn’t matter if the potatoes have to sit for a little while so you can finish cooking the leeks, or if the pastry case is ready to fill before the filling is actually cooked – you can just potter away at your own pace, and it can all be assembled when you’re ready.
⭐️ What’s in Homity Pie?
There are three parts to this recipe:
- garlicky sautéed leeks and onion
- buttery crushed potatoes (with a cheesy topping)
- a crispy pastry case
These 3 elements can all be prepared simultaneously, or one at a time, depending on how good you are at multitasking. I’ve written the recipe in 3 separate parts, but if the timings work out (or if you have someone else helping you in the kitchen), you can prepare them all at the same time.
Once all three parts of the recipe are ready, they can be assembled, and baked one last time to complete your cheesy homity pie.
And by the way, I am 100% not a pastry expert. You may think my homity pie looks decidedly… rustic. But I like it that way 😆 If I wanted it to look perfect, I’d have saved myself a couple of hours, and bought one in a shop.
Becca’s Top Tip
Any extra scraps of pastry can be baked on their own, and eaten spread with strawberry jam – my kids love it when I cook with pastry as they always get little jam tarts!
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🥗 Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.
- leek – It’s hard to get the scale from the picture, but the leek I used was absolutely enormous – a proper monster (probably as big as my forearm!). If your leeks are a more normal size, you’ll probably need at least two.
- potatoes
- shortcrust pastry – I used a ready-rolled sheet of shop-bought pastry, as making pastry is not my forte. Feel free to use homemade pastry if you prefer!
- cheddar cheese – If possible, use freshly grated mature cheddar cheese rather than the pre-grated stuff, as it melts more nicely.
- onion – I used red onion, but regular onions would also be good.
- fresh parsley
- egg
- garlic – I used pre-minced garlic from a jar because I hate chopping large amounts of fresh garlic.
- curry powder (optional, but it does add a lovely hint of warmth)
Becca’s Top Tip
If you’re using shop-bought pastry, take it out of the fridge an hour or so before you need to use it. This helps it to soften a little, and means it’s less likely to crack as you unroll it.
📹 Recipe Video
🔪 Equipment
I like to use a loose bottomed springform cake tin for homemade pies. It works really well because:
- The clip on the side and the loose bottom make it so easy to remove the pie from the tin once it’s finished baking.
- It gives a nice tall pie, which looks great, and also gives a wonderfully thick layer of filling.
- The metal heats up nicely and helps to crisp up the pastry.
You can use a shallower pie tin to make homity pie if that’s what you have, but I would always recommend a cake tin if you have one.
Here’s a similar one on Amazon, with great reviews:
🖨️ Printable Instructions
Homity Pie (Cheesy Potato and Leek Pie)
If you’ve cooked this recipe, don’t forget to leave a star rating!
Print Pin CommentIngredients
- 250 g (~ 9 oz) shortcrust pastry
- 2 Tbsp flour (for dusting only)
- 2 Tbsp butter, divided
- 450 g (~ 1 lb) leeks, halved lengthwise then sliced
- 1 onion (I used red onion), thinly sliced or diced
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon mild curry powder
- 450 g (~ 1 lb) potatoes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Few sprigs fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 egg
- 150 g (~ 5 oz) mature cheddar cheese, grated (~ 1 1/2 cups when grated)
Instructions
Part 1: The pastry case
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F). Lightly grease an 8 inch springform cake tin. Dust the pastry and work surface with flour, and roll out the pastry until it measures around 12 x 12 inches (even if you're using pre-rolled pastry, I find it helps to roll it a little thinner).Lay the pastry over the cake tin, and gently ease it into the corners, pressing gently (see the video below if you need more guidance). If you end up with any tears, just press the pastry back together. Trim off any extreme excess, but leave an inch or two extra around the edge of the tin, to allow it to shrink a little during baking. Prick the pastry a few times with a fork. Place the pastry case in the oven to blind bake for around 15 minutes.
- When the pastry case is lightly golden brown, remove it from the oven. If the pastry has puffed up at all, just press it back down gently. When it is cool enough to touch, trim off any excess pastry by running a knife around the top edge of the cake tin.
Part 2: The garlicky leeks
- To make the leek mixture, melt 1 Tbsp butter in a large frying pan, and add the sliced leeks and red onion. Cook over a medium heat, stirring regularly, until softened and just starting to brown. Add the minced garlic and curry powder, and cook for a couple more minutes. Set aside to cool for at least 5-10 minutes.
- When the leek mixture has cooled a little, add the chopped parsley and the egg, and thoroughly mix it in.
Part 3: The buttery potato topping
- To make the potato topping, cut the potatoes into chunks, and boil them for around 10-15 minutes, until just softened.
- Drain the potatoes, and add a Tbsp butter and a little salt. Use a fork to coarsely crush them – don’t make mashed potato, just break down any large chunks.
Part 4: Assemble
- Transfer the leek mixture to the blind baked pastry case, and spread it around into an even layer.
- Add the smashed potatoes on top, and distribute them evenly.
- Finish the pie with a generous amount of grated cheddar cheese.
- Bake in the oven for around 30-40 more minutes, until the cheese is golden. Allow to stand for 5 minutes.
- Run a knife around the edge of the pastry to ensure it is loosened from the tin, then undo the clip. I like to take the pie out of the cake tin by placing it onto an upturned mug or bowl – the tin will slide downwards and the pie will rise out of the top. Alternatively, you can tip the pie out upside down onto your hand or a plate, then turn it the right way up again.Slice to serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
💭 Recipe FAQs
Yes! The pie is best eaten fresh from the oven. However, if you need to prepare it in advance, it’s best to assemble everything, then keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to do the final bake just before serving.
The most convenient method is to reheat any leftovers in the microwave – however, this does cause the pastry to lose its crispiness. Alternatively, you can reheat in the oven at about 180°C (Gas Mark 4 / 350°F), but it may dry out a little (make sure you’ve got some gravy to hand!).
Homity pie is pretty versatile. It’s great simply served for lunch with some salad. Alternatively, it also makes a great vegetarian main course for a special occasion, e.g. Christmas or Thanksgiving.
Hi Becca, you don’t mention what to do with, or when to introduce the Egg ! I am taking a guess and going to whip it up and mix into the potatoes. Will let you know how it comes out – I have also made a couple of tweaks. More later. Thanks for the inspiration – I have a folk memory from the 1980’s of eating Homity Pie in Cranks’ restaurant in Covent Garden, if my memory serves.
definitely going to make this
Enjoy! :)
I’ve made this yesterday and messed up a little.. I forgot the onion and added the extra butter on the potatoes a bit too late. Yet it was still delicious and you easily feed 6 people!
Will remake for sure!
Great to hear, thanks Mirjam!
Just wondering if you’ve ever made this in advance? Thinking of it for Christmas Day for vegetarians and side for others.. Might make up on Christmas Eve and bake Christmas Day? Or would you advise baking it all in advance and just reheating Christmas Day?
I think it should probably reheat fine in the oven if you want to cook it fully the day before! Or if you prefer, you could prepare the pastry and the filling separately, and then assemble and cook on the day. I wouldn’t pour the filling into the pastry until you’re ready to bake though, otherwise you’ll end up with soggy pastry. Hope you enjoy it! :)
That makes sense. Thanks for your reply :)
I made this last night. I did add a bit of salt, but otherwise made it as you posted. It was quite tasty! The dash of curry gave it a subtle but nice background flavor. I may have gone overboard on the potatoes – I don’t have a scale and was converting metric to US pounds in my head anyway, but it was still good. Thanks for sharing your recipes and ideas!
This looks like something that I would love! Anything with potato and cheese is a winner in my book. I will have to try it out sometime!
I unfortunately don’t have a pan like this and fully intend on making this tomorrow. Could you possibly recommend a replacement? Or would a regular pie pan work?
If you have an alternative type of pan that you usually use to make pie, I’m sure it would work fine! I only used this dish because it’s what I usually make pies/tarts in :)
Made it tonight! Pretty good. I had to do a makeshift springform pan thing but it worked out. I probably would’ve added some salt to the mixture, and maybe would’ve used a bit less cheese (mine ended up way cheesier on top than yours). This one’s probably gonna get a repeat though. :)
Thanks for the feedback! :) I should have said ‘season to taste’ really, I always forget to include that, sorry. And yeah I might go a bit crazy with the cheese, but since potato doesn’t have much flavour itself, I figure it needs the help! Anyway I hope you enjoyed it :)
ooooh this looks so good! i need to make some! everything i love…and pie! i love pie
So glad I found your blog, daughter is a veggie and we sometimes run out of inspiration so your tasty but straightforward recipes are just what we need – great photos too btw!
Yay thank you! Let me know if you make anything from my blog, I love hearing comments and seeing photos! :)