Eye on the Pie

On the weekend I was on a mission to use up a whole lot of bits and pieces that I had in the fridge and freezer - a couple of sheets of pastry, some eggs, a few slices of bacon and proscuitto, a handful of cheese, a tomato, some parsley. I am actively trying to eliminate food wastage and also reduce what I purchase, so using up leftovers and random bits and pieces has become all the rage in my house. A few days ago I came up with a good way to do this with yummy breakfast pies - a nice change from a normal weekend cooked breakfast. This recipe would also be an ideal picnic or brunch dish. You could easily make these ahead and just reheat them before serving, or even eat them cold. This recipe makes six individual pies - you could of course make a large one if you wanted to.

These pies are meant to be home style and rustic - I personally didn't bother getting them all perfect. It was meant to a relaxed Sunday breakfast after all and I was hungry and eager to get them cooked and on the plate as soon as possible. My partner Andrew polished off the leftover pies for lunch the next day, so there was definitely no waste here!

Bacon, egg and proscuitto breakfast pies

You will need: 2 sheets ready rolled puff pastry, 4 slices bacon chopped roughly, 4 slices proscuitto chopped roughly, 1 cup finely chopped spring onion, 1 large tomato diced finely, splash of olive oil, 1/2 cup grated cheese (I used mozzerella), 6 eggs, 1 tablespoon water, 2 tablespoons chopped continental parsley, pepper and salt.

Method: Preheat the oven to about 200C.

Heat a pan and cook the bacon for 2 or 3 minutes. Add the spring onions, tomato and proscuitto and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, water and season very generously with salt and pepper. Se aside.

Grease six individual pie tins. Cut each piece of pastry into four, leaving you with eight smaller squares. Line the six tins with the pastry. Use any leftover pastry to fill any gaps or to make extra edges (see the picture above) The extra edges will give you more puffy, crispy bits to tear at!

Prick the bottom of the tins in a couple of places. Place the filling evenly in the bottom of each pie.
Now sprinkle over the cheese and pour the egg mixture into the pie bases.

Finish with some pepper and the parsley. Bake for about 25 minutes until puffed and golden (be sure they are cooked on the bottom) If the bases are a bit soft, just remove them from the tins and let them bake for 5 minutes on a baking tray so that they crisp up.

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