Lancashire Butter Pie - A Traditional Recipe With Potato And Onion Filling (2024)

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Lancashire butter pie is a new discovery I've made. Like any British person, I do enjoy making good old pie, especially mini British beef and mushroom pies.

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The general problem when it comes to preparing delicious British pies is making the pastry. Making the pastry is an art and requires a lot of patience and practise.

So much so, I recently came away defeated and can honestly say that making my own pastry is my Achilles' heel in the kitchen. Luckily, I did find my way with completing this Lancashire butter pie with some store-bought pastry. Phew!

In the end, I managed to create an excellent version of the Lancashire butter pie. Being another one of my delicious hearty meals for this cold weather, it is an excellent dinner if you’ve got a hungry family.

It’s easy, cheap, and filling. Plus, it stores so well, it can keep for days in the fridge, if it lasts that long. Best served with a side salad or some roasted vegetables.

By the way, if you love potatoes, you simply must try boulangere potatoes.

lancashire butter pie with original cottages

While I was making the Lancashire butter pie I thought about where I’d spend my holidays this year. Do any of you have any special plans for Christmas or New Year’s Eve?

I recently stumbled upon Original Cottages and I seem to have found some inspiration, wink wink. Suddenly, I imagined making pies in a wonderful cottage by a fireplace, with a window overlooking the country side.

Hidden from all the city stress and filled with special family moments, passing your holidays can’t be more relaxing.

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Wouldn’t it be great to take the edge off in a cosy cottage? You too can find the perfect retreat. The best part is, that you can find a cottage that suits you perfectly in many parts of the UK.

You can discover the beautiful coastline with Coastal Holiday Cottages. Or, you can bring your entire family with you, even your pooch.

Original Cottages offers lots of dog-friendly cottages, which is great because your pet can enjoy the countryside as well. Lastly, just because you stay in a cottage doesn’t mean you should be in total solitude.

You can find a lot of cottages near pubs for a great local experience. Or you can plan a romantic escape, or a memory-filled family adventure in UK’s various beautiful regions.

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about original cottages

The Original Cottage Company Ltd (TOCC) is family-owned company that started initially as Norfolk Country Cottages in 1992. They offer various types of cottages in most regions in the UK, so you can select your favourite part of the country.

Just check out all their UK Original Cottage destinations here. Surprise surprise, I have my eyes set on the destinations in Lancashire.

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For my non-English readers, this region of the ‘red roses’ is located in north-western England. Have you ever heard of the Roses Tournament?

It’s an old university competition between York (white roses) and Lancashire (red roses). This university competition is rumoured to be older than competitions between Harvard and Yale. Fancy that!

In any case, Lancashire is an absolutely gorgeous region and definitely a great place for a holiday stay with UK’S Original Cottages. For now I'll imagine being there while eating Lancashire butter pie.

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the pastry

Now, I’ve got a secret to confess. At first, I was extremely excited to make my own pastry from scratch for this Lancashire butter pie. However, Murphy’sLlaw came into play and, of course, I stuffed it up.

Making my own pastry didn’t work, so I rushed into the store to buy short crust and puff pastry. Oops! I admit, I am not the best baker in England and my pastry skills need fine tuning.

If you do have the confidence to make your own pastry, then you should blind bake the short crust first. This is done so that the crust comes together and is less likely to be flabby at the end of the cooking process.

Again, if you don’t feel like faffing with making short crust pie lining from scratch, just go for a store bought one. Next, I recommend putting the cooled down filling in next and then covering it with puff pastry.

Feel free to decorate the top of the puff pastry to your heart’s desire. As you can see, I’ve made small leaves. Don’t forget to brush the top layer of the puff pastry with egg wash for that beautiful golden colour on the Lancashire butter pie!

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filling

This traditional pie calls for potato and onion filling. It's vegetarian friendly and omnivores can have some meat on the side. The pie can easily be spruced up though.

Personally, I would add bits of bacon or smoked ham for that nice umami flavour. Also, the f you’ve got a meat lover at home, they will enjoy a bit of meat inside.

The best part about any pie is that you can tweak the filling in any way you wish. Sometimes, I like to make a ‘quiche lorraine’ type of filling with eggs, cream, tomato and bacon.

Simple and delicious. Plus, it’s a tad lighter than the potato and onion filling. Another great idea that I’ve seen from readers’ comments in the Yorkshire Pudding Wraprecipe post is including beef stew.

Why not save some leftovers and put them into a pie? Clever and sustainable at the same time.

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Sides

While your Lancashire butter pie is in the oven, you can use this time to prepare a light side dish. I recommend making something green like a side salad.

A simple green salad with some tomatoes, peppers and olive oil will. Although, I urge you to add a vinaigrette as the acidity won’t make the pie as heavy.

However, if you have more space in your oven, why not roast a couple of vegetables and serve them on the side? I’d go for roasted beetroots or even coleslaw.

If you are looking for more traditional British pies, then try this sweet one. Try my lemon chess pie recipe.

More potato recipes

  • boulangere potatoes
  • rosemary potatoes
  • parmentier potatoes

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📖 Recipe

Lancashire Butter Pie - A Traditional Recipe With Potato And Onion Filling (8)

Lancashire Butter Pie

★★★★★4.9 from 7 reviews
  • Author: Michelle Minnaar
  • Total Time: 1 hours 30 minutes
  • Yield: 6 1x
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Ingredients

UnitsScale

  • 320g (11oz) shortcrust pastry sheet, ready rolled
  • 320g (11oz) puff pastry sheet, ready rolled
  • 5 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 2 large onions, peeled and sliced
  • 100g (3oz) butter
  • 1 egg, whisked

Instructions

  1. Remove the pastries from the fridge and let them rest at room temperature.
  2. Parboil the potatoes in salted water for 5 minutes and drain.
  3. Gently fry the onions in the butter until softened then add the potato and stir.
  4. While the potato mixture is cooling down, preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
  5. Lightly oil a 30cm (12in) pie dish.
  6. Line the pie dish with the shortcrust pastry and trim the edges. Line with baking parchment then pour in baking beans. Bake blind for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool down a bit. Remove baking beans.
  7. Adjust the oven temperature to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7.
  8. Fill the pie shell with the potato filling and evenly distribute the contents.
  9. Top off with the puff pastry and crimp the edges. Poke the top with a fork or knife so that air can escape during the baking process. Decorate to your heart’s content.
  10. Brush egg on top then bake for 15 minutes or until the puff pastry is golden.
  11. Remove from the oven and serve with salad.
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 60 minutes
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: English

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 serving
  • Calories: 554
  • Sugar: 6.2 g
  • Sodium: 166 mg
  • Fat: 22.7 g
  • Saturated Fat: 6 g
  • Carbohydrates: 78.4 g
  • Fiber: 9.3 g
  • Protein: 10.7 g
  • Cholesterol: 28 mg

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Lancashire Butter Pie - A Traditional Recipe With Potato And Onion Filling (9)

P.S. This post has been created in partnership with Original Cottages.

Lancashire Butter Pie - A Traditional Recipe With Potato And Onion Filling (2024)

FAQs

What is a butter pie made of? ›

A true Lancashire delicacy, our butter pie is made in the best traditions of north west pie making. With a hearty filling of freshly peeled potatoes mixed with onions, mild cheddar cheese and rich butter. Seasoned simply with salt and pepper, this is a crowd pleaser and one of the region's best kept secrets.

What is the pie at Preston North End? ›

Lancashire's butter pie has been a staple of the Preston area for centuries. Preston has always had a large Catholic community, and Catholics don't eat meat on Fridays — so in Preston, they eat butter pie.

What does butter do to pies? ›

Butter has water so when it evaporates as the crust bakes, the flakiness is effected by this. But ultimately pie crust is way more about technique than ingredients. The more you blend the fat in, the crumblier your crust is and the easier the dough is to work with and roll out.

What is the origin of the butter pie? ›

History. The pie is known to have been created for workers from Lancashire's Catholic community, to consume on days (mainly Friday) when meat could not be eaten. From 2006, the butter pie was included in the annual World Pie Eating Championship in Wigan, in the vegetarian category.

Why is a butter pie called a butter pie? ›

With a history as rich as its' filling, (like us!), butter pie is synonymous with Lancashire. Also known as Friday Pie, it was originally created by Catholics in Preston who did not eat meat on Fridays and chose to substitute their beef with butter.

Why is my butter pie crust hard? ›

Tough pie crusts are typically the result of working the dough too much (again, gluten). You don't need to make sure it's a perfectly uniform ball. “As long as the dough is mostly holding together, you don't need to spend a lot of time kneading it,” Susan Reid wrote for King Arthur Baking.

Which is better butter pie crust or shortening? ›

The pros: Shortening has a higher melting point than lard or butter, so it's easy to incorporate into pie dough and roll out. It's also helpful when making any kind of decorative pie crust, because doughs made with shortening hold their shape the best during baking.

Which butter is good for pie? ›

“The more flavorful the butter, the more flavor your pie crust will have,” Huntsberger added. She likes using KerryGold or other cultured European butters for the richest pie crusts. Another advantage of butter is that it creates a flaky crust.

What is Dolly Parton pie? ›

Calling all Dolly Parton fans! This dessert legendary holiday walnut pie is a delicious and easy play on a pecan pie using walnuts instead of pecans. A bit of sugar, corn syrup, and melted butter comes together as a smooth, subtle filling. Save the recipe for Thanksgiving, we are sure you'll enjoy it.

What pie is Louisiana known for? ›

Louisiana recognized the Natchitoches meat pie as the official state meat pie in 2003. The city of Natchitoches in northern Louisiana (named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe, pronounced NAK-uh-tush) offers a regional delicacy popular since the late 1700's – the Natchitoches meat pie.

What is the most expensive pie? ›

The Guinness world record for the most expensive pie cost customers to the Fence Gate Inn, Lancashire, UK £8,195 (then $14,260) or £1,024 (then $1,781) per slice when ordered by eight guests on 14 November 2005.

Why add butter to pie filling? ›

A: Dotting the top of a fruit pie filling with butter is an old habit but one that is called for in only about half of the pie recipes out there. Some maintain that the butter is for taste; others claim that it helps the filling set up, particularly when using flour as a thickener.

What does "dot with butter" mean? ›

Dot with butter means to literally, place "dots" of butter on top of the filling and under the top crust. This extra step makes the pie's filling a little bit more delicious and rich, but doesn't do much else. Your Grandma did it and you should, too.

What is the best flour for pies? ›

I like to use pastry flour because it contains less gluten than all-purpose flour and therefore creates a more tender crust, but all-purpose flour will work just fine if that's what you have on hand. The “2” is fat. Butter is the most common type of fat used, but other solid fats will work as well.

Is butter pie crust better than Crisco? ›

Despite the great taste of butter, some bakers don't like to use it for pie crusts because it's difficult to handle. “Butter is harder to work with than shortening because it melts at a lower temperature,” Huntsberger said. It can be hard to get a flaky pie crust with butter if the butter isn't handled very carefully.

What is the difference between a sugar pie and a butter tart? ›

Traditionally, the English Canadian tart consists of butter, sugar, and eggs in a pastry shell, similar to the French-Canadian sugar pie, or the base of the U.S. pecan pie without the nut topping. The butter tart is different from the sugar pie given the lack of flour in the filling.

Are butter pies vegetarian? ›

A regional Lancashire favourite and one of our vegetarian-friendly multi-portion pies. Freshly peeled potatoes are layered with cheese, onion and a helping of butter that gives our multi-portion butter pie its name.

What were the three Stooges pies made of? ›

Moe Howard of the Three Stooges supposedly had his own secret recipe for the pies he famously threw in people's faces. “A vat of whipped cream, marshmallow sauce and pumpkin filling,” the executive director of the International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center claimed in an article for the Washington Post.

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