Karen Wright: ‘Posh up’ your summer picnics with my delicious picnic pie

Who loves a picnic? I know that I do!
Karen’s posh picnic pieKaren’s posh picnic pie
Karen’s posh picnic pie

Who loves a picnic? I know that I do! Even as a child my mum used to let us take jam sandwiches and a bottle of pop with us when we went out to play with friends on a summer day.

We didn’t venture far, usually just to an open patch of grass somewhere near to home. Or, if we were going out for the day as a family, we would always take a picnic with us.

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Back in the day it was very simple fayre - potted meat sandwiches on white sliced bread, bags of crisps, bottles of pop and a flask of tea for the grown-ups. If we were going to the coast, we would eat our picnic on the beach with all the usual jokes about “sand” sandwiches!

These days it is so easy to grab some picnic food from the supermarket, there is everything you could wish for on the shelves - salads, dips, sandwiches, pies and so on. This means that a picnic can be arranged at short notice with no need to plan.

On the other hand, if you have the time to plan a picnic you can go all out and make it a “posh picnic”. The sort of picnic you might have seen in films where everyone is dressed up for the occasion and the food looks like it was bought from a fancy store. Or perhaps you are planning a summer buffet party in the garden. Our family are planning an occasion like this to celebrate my Uncle Graham’s 90th birthday and I will be making this special picnic pie as a centrepiece.

Although this pie looks difficult it really is quite straightforward to make. The pastry is a shortcrust pastry made with butter and a tablespoon of smoked paprika in the mix. This gives it a fantastic orange tinge.

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Line a loaf tin with the pastry and layer your choice of fillings into it. I used sweet potato mash, caramelized onions, goat cheese, spinach, tomatoes, boiled eggs, peppers from a jar, cooked beetroot and then more goat cheese. I weaved a lattice on the top and baked for about half an hour in a hot oven.

For more tips and recipes go to http://www.karenwrightbakes.co.uk

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