Who wants to spend ages cooking whilst on holiday, here’s a recipe that can cover two evening meals, and if you make it big enough, cold for lunch or a picnic.

Monster Pie

• 1½ kilos of cooked mashed potato.
• ½ white cabbage chopped and partly cooked.
• 3 carrots diced and partly cooked.
• 2 onions finely chopped and left raw.
• 1 tin of corned beef roughly chopped.
• 1pkt of pre rolled Puff pastry.
• 1pkt of pre rolled short crust pastry ( optional) pie base.
• 1 beaten egg or milk for basting.
• Salt and black pepper to taste.

1. Allow all your cooked vegetables to cool.
2. If you are having a base to your pie, grease and line a large Ashet with the short crust pastry. Place some greaseproof paper over the pastry with dried beans on top. Bake in the oven 180’c, 375’f, gas mark 4 for 20minutes. This process is called blind baking. Allow to cool.
3. In a large bowl combine all your ingredients, salt and pepper to taste and do taste this dish, as it will take quite a lot of pepper.
4. Scoop the mixture into your ashet and spread evenly.
5. Wet the edges of either the ashet or the cooked shortscrust pastry.
6. Cover with the uncooked puff pastry allowing a small overlap. Crimp the edges. This serves two purposes, it seals the pie and makes it more attractive.
7. Baste with either beaten egg or milk.
8. Poke a breathe hole in the top of your pie, this allows steam to escape.
9. Cook for around 45 minutes in a moderate oven, temperatures as above.

Next week is a family favourite Tex Mex pasta bake. For this you shall need 200g mince, red pepper, mushrooms, onions, garlic, chilli powder, chopped tomatoes, bay leaves, dried macaroni and chedder cheese.