Amid hardships, limitations, and uncertainty, nothing stung the war fronts and the home fronts of WWII like an empty stomach and kitchen spartanly bare of any staples to make a proper meal. Governments were put into high gear, creating promotional pamphlets filled with recipes that people could make with the limited ingredients they had on hand. Here this recipe Woolton Pie hails from England, and it is a meatless version of their classic meaty pastries.
During 1941 Francois Latry, a chef de cuisine at the posh London Savoy Hotel, made a vegetable pie to serve on the hotel restaurant’s menu. The recipe got picked up and published in the spring edition of the Times, citing the recipe’s frugal use of rationed foods. Named Woolton Pie (sometimes Lord Woolton Pie), this baked dish’s namesake was Lord Woolton (Fredrick Marquis, the first earl of Woolton). At the time Lord Woolton was in charge of Britain’s Ministry of Food and this dish was a prodigal example of using victory garden vegetables and a meager amount of rationed food products. Even the crust was cut with mashed potatoes as a way to cut back one’s use of flour and dairy.
The public didn’t really like Woolton Pie, as everyone had been accustomed to the meat-filled ones. Yet that didn’t stop the British government from promoting this dish, even going as far as having Lord Woolton sit down and eat the pie with a smile on his face in front of a dozen press cameras.
Woolton Pie is extremely versatile, adapting to the season. The traditional ingredients can be swapped out for sweet potatoes, rutabaga, turnips, pumpkin, or squash. You just want to make sure you’re using sturdy vegetables that don’t have a crazy high water content.
Bring the chopped vegetables to a simmer in the smallest amount of water. A bit of bouillon, salt, pepper, and spring onions add flavor to the vegetable filling. Once the vegetables are tender, they get transferred into a greased baking pan.
The crust comes together quickly like a biscuit dough. It then gets rolled out and placed on top of the vegetable filling. If you don’t want to make a crust from scratch, you can also use a premade pie crust and just roll it out on top.
The whole dish then gets baked in the oven until the top is golden.
Digging into this Woolton Pie is more comforting than expected!
Each ingredient is hearty and can stand up against the baking time without becoming mush. The potatoes are starchy with comfort, while the carrots and parsnips have a great earthy quality to them. Cauliflower adds a great contrast in flavor of the other vegetables, which are all sandwiched between lovely, comforting carby layers of crust.
It’s a retro recipe lost to time but should never be forgotten!
Woolton Pie
Allergens: Gluten
For the crust:
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes
- 4 ounces mashed potatoes (either fresh or instant)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons cold water, if needed
For the pie filling:
- 1/2 lb cauliflower, cut into large florets
- 1/2 lb carrots, peeled and diced into large chunks
- 1/2 lb parsnips, peeled and diced into large chunks
- 1/2 lb potatoes, peeled and diced into large chunks
- 2 scallions, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon (or cube) beef or vegetable bouillon
- 1 tablespoon rolled oats
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, plus more for garnish
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
To make the crust:
- In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Using a pastry cutter or clean hand cut the butter into the flour until it looks sandy in texture and feel.
- Mix in mashed potatoes, kneading until a dough forms. If the dough is looking dry, use a few tablespoons of water to bring the dough together.
- Shape the dough into a flat disk and roll it out enough to cover a 9-inch pie pan or a 9x9 baking dish. Set aside.
To make the filling and bake the pie:
- Preheat oven to 350°F and spray a 9-inch pie pan, set aside.
- In a large pot combine cauliflower, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, and spring onions. Add just enough water to cover the vegetables.
- Stir in bouillon and rolled oats. Season with salt and pepper.
- Bring the vegetables to a simmer, cooking until the vegetables are tender and most of the water has been absorbed, about 20 minutes. Season again with salt and pepper if needed.
- Transfer the vegetables into the prepared dish.
- Sprinkle the filling with parsley before covering the top with the crust.
- Bake in the oven until the top is browned, about 25 to 35 minutes. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from The 1940s Experiment.