GOOSEBERRY AND ELDERFLOWER PIE

Now this is my sort of pie, no tins no fussy bits and if you haven’t the time you can even get away with shop bought pastry….when you tire of gooseberries, try it with summer berries, a selection of stoned fruit and spice and a large bowl of whipped cream!

For the filling 700g prepared gooseberries (top and tail) 75g sugar 2 Tbsp ground almonds or cornflour 1 egg yolk 2 heads fresh elderflowers (optional) To glaze – 1 egg white and 1 Tbsp sugar For the shorcrust pastry: 1 packet shop bought pastry Or 175g plain flour 80g butter, cubed

Method To make pastry sift the flour into a large mixing bowl, add the butter and rub in with your fingertips (lift up the mixture and let it fall back into the bowl to aerate it) until the mixture reaches the crumb stage. Using a dessert spoon, drizzle in only enough cold water to bring your dough together to create a smooth dough. Knead lightly, wrap in glad wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C

Roll your pastry out on a lightly floured work surface to a round 35cm don’t bother tiding up the edges as the more “rustic the better”

Carefully transfer the pastry onto flat baking tray. I roll the pastry around my rolling pin and transfer it to the tray and then carefully unravel it!

In a bowl add the gooseberries, almonds, sugar and pick off the elderflowers and toss together to combine.

Brush the centre of your pastry with egg yolk to act as a sort of waterproof coating. Carefully place the gooseberries in the centre of the pastry. Pull the pastry up to form rustic sides (you don’t want it to come up to high as you want the gooseberries to be visible and don’t worry if the pastry breaks as you can simply patchwork it back together.

Bake for 35 minutes approximately or until the pastry is golden and the gooseberries are full and bursting with their juices.