Ham, bean and potato pie recipe

This ham, bean and potato pie is the perfect way to use up fresh, seasonal ingredients like round green beans and new potatoes. 

Using seasonal veg is a a great way to keep costs down, making this one of our great cheap family meals for spring and summer. To keep things as simple as possible for the cook, this dish uses ready-made pastry and ham from a packet. The result is a dish that is really easy to prepare, but still looks impressive when you slice into all of those layers. This pie can be enjoyed hot or cold, so you can serve it at the dinner table or at picnics and in lunchboxes. It makes a pie that slices into 8 pieces, so small families will have plenty of leftovers for the next day.

Ingredients

• 500g pack ready-made shortcrust pastry
• 300g piece of cooked ham, shredded
• 200-250g round green beans, trimmed and blanched for 2 mins and cooled
• 4-6 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
• 300g cooked new potatoes, sliced
• 1 medium egg
• 100ml crème fraîche

Method

1. Set the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Put a baking sheet in the lower half of the oven to heat up.
2. Take off 200g of the pastry. Knead it lightly into a ball, then roll it out on a floured surface to a circle large enough to line a 25cm enamel pie plate. Spread the ham out over the base, then put the beans at various angles over the ham and sprinkle with spring onions. Season well. Arrange the potato slices in one layer all over the top.
3. Form the other piece of pastry into a ball, then roll out ready to cover the pie filling. Beat the egg, then beat in the crème fraîche and spoon it over the filling. Put the pastry cover on. Seal the edges together well. Trim off excess pastry and crimp the edges. Cut out shapes from the leftover pastry and stick them on the pie with a little water.
4. Bake the pie for 45-50 mins in the lower half of the oven until the pastry is golden. Leave to cool and serve warm or cold. It slices better cold.

Top tip for making ham, bean and potato pie

Buy a chunk of ready-cooked ham, the end piece, from the butcher or deli counter in the supermarket – it’s cheaper and tastier. You can use leftover chicken instead.