Delia Smith A Luxuriant Vegetable Pie

Delia Smith’s luxuriant vegetable pie is a shortcrust case filled with steamed fennel, leeks, broccoli and broad beans in a watercress sauce. It bakes at 200°C (Gas 6) for 40 minutes, serves 6 at 720 calories, with extra sauce alongside.

The recipe comes from Delia’s Happy Christmas, and she designed it specifically for vegetarians who don’t eat cheese. She says “the challenge here was to find a celebration recipe for vegetarians without any cheese,” and this emerged as the clear winner after several attempts.

The sequential steaming is what keeps each vegetable at its best. Delia adds the fennel first, then the leeks a minute later, then the broccoli, then the broad beans last. Everything finishes al dente at the same moment.

Delia Smith A Luxuriant Vegetable Pie

Recipe by Pinch PerfectCourse: DinnerCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

35

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Calories

720

kcal

Total time

1

hour 

15

minutes

A vegetarian Christmas centrepiece with no cheese, built on a watercress sauce studded with pine nuts, capers and cornichons. Delia says it can be assembled a full day ahead and refrigerated before glazing and baking.

Ingredients

• For the pastry and glaze:

• 400 g ready-made butter shortcrust pastry

• 1 small egg, beaten (to glaze)

• For the filling:

• 400 g fennel

• 275 g leeks

• 200 g tenderstem broccoli

• 175 g frozen baby broad beans

• 100 g pine nuts, toasted

• 1 heaped tablespoon fine capers, drained

• 12 cornichons, roughly chopped

• For the sauce:

• 55 g butter

• 55 g plain flour

• 650 ml vegetable stock (made with Marigold bouillon)

• 150 ml double cream

• 75 g watercress, stalks removed, plus extra for garnish

• Seasoning

• Equipment

• A large lidded pan and a fan steamer or a steamer

• A loose-based non-stick sandwich tin with a base measurement of 20 cm (8 in) and 4 cm (1½ in) deep, lightly greased

• A baking tray

Directions

• Prepare the vegetables: Trim away a little of the stalk from the fennel, cut it in half through the root, then into 1 cm slices. Trim the leeks, keeping just a little of the dark green part, then slit them vertically to about halfway down and fan them out under the tap to remove any grit. Cut diagonally into 1.5 cm slices. Trim away a small piece off the base of each broccoli stalk, then cut into pieces about 6 cm long.
• Steam sequentially: Set a fan steamer over boiling water. Put in the fennel to one side, cover and set the timer for 1 minute, then place the leeks next to the fennel for 1 more minute, followed by the broccoli for 2 minutes, and finally add the broad beans for a further 2 minutes. All the vegetables should be al dente and still retain their colour. Remove them to a large bowl to cool.
• Preheat: Set the oven to 200°C/Gas 6 (400°F) with the baking tray inside.
• Make the sauce: Melt 40 g of the butter in a medium saucepan, stir in the flour and gradually whisk in the stock. Bring it up to a simmer, then cook very gently for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in two-thirds of the cream and some seasoning.
• Line the tin: While the sauce cools, roll a little over half the pastry to a 28 cm round on a floured surface, giving it quarter-turns to form the round. Line the sandwich tin, pushing it well into the edges and leaving the overhang for the moment.
• Blend the watercress: Take the cooled sauce and whiz the watercress into it with a stick blender or processor until the sauce is green but still has some flecks of watercress in it. Put a quarter of the sauce into the bowl with the vegetables and reserve the remaining sauce for later.
• Fill the pie: Add the toasted pine nuts, capers and cornichons to the vegetables and gently mix to coat everything lightly, adding a little more sauce if necessary. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then pile into the lined pastry.
• Top and seal: Roll the remaining pastry 3 mm thick and 24 cm wide, dampen the edges of the base and lay the lid on top. Pinch the base and lid well together where they overlap the tin, then use scissors to trim away excess pastry, leaving a 1.5 cm overhang. Fold in the overhang using your thumb and forefinger to form a scalloped edge.
• Decorate and glaze: Roll and cut some leaves with the pastry trimmings and use them to decorate the top. Brush all over with the egg glaze and use a skewer to make a hole in the centre for the steam to escape.
• Bake: Put the pie on the hot baking tray and bake for 40 minutes. When the pie comes out, leave it to stand for about 5 minutes.
• Finish the sauce: Heat the reserved sauce in a medium saucepan without boiling. When hot, whisk in the last 15 g of butter and 50 ml cream before removing from the heat and pouring into a warmed jug.
• Serve: Carefully remove the pie from the tin, then serve whole or cut into wedges on warmed plates with the hot sauce and some extra watercress to garnish.

Notes

• If making ahead, refrigerate and leave the egg glaze until just before baking.
• The Delia Online team confirms this can be assembled a full day ahead and baked the next day, but it’s not suitable for freezing.

FAQs

Why does Delia steam the vegetables in stages rather than all at once?

Each vegetable needs a different time to reach al dente. Fennel is the densest and gets a full 6 minutes, while the broad beans need only 2. Putting everything in together would turn the beans to mush before the fennel softened.

This technique also means you only use one steamer and one timer. Delia builds the layers up over 6 minutes without removing anything, so there’s no juggling of pans. The vegetables finish at the same moment and go straight into the bowl to cool, which stops the cooking immediately.

Can I use homemade pastry instead of shop-bought?

Delia specifies ready-made butter shortcrust, which keeps the prep time manageable for a Christmas day meal. If you prefer homemade, you’d need about 400 g of pastry made with roughly 250 g plain flour and 125 g cold butter. Roll it the same way Delia describes, giving it quarter-turns to form the round.

The key is keeping homemade pastry cold. chicken with sherry vinegar works on the hob, but this pie needs crisp, golden pastry from a hot oven. If the butter in the pastry warms up before baking, it melts into the flour rather than creating steam, and you lose that flaky texture.

What does the watercress do in the sauce?

It replaces cheese as the main flavour driver. Most vegetable pies rely on cheddar or Parmesan for depth, but Delia designed this specifically for vegetarians who avoid cheese. The watercress adds a peppery, green bite that lifts the cream sauce without any dairy cheese at all.

Delia says to blend it until the sauce is “green but still has some flecks of watercress in it.” Don’t purée it to a smooth paste, because those visible flecks give the sauce texture and visual interest. The slight bitterness of the watercress also balances the richness of the double cream and butter.

Why are pine nuts, capers and cornichons in a vegetable pie?

They’re doing the heavy lifting on flavour. Without cheese or meat, a vegetable pie can taste flat no matter how good the vegetables are. The pine nuts add a toasted richness, the capers bring a salty tang, and the cornichons give sharp little bursts of acidity through each mouthful.

Delia builds layers of contrasting flavour and texture rather than relying on one dominant ingredient. The result is a pie that holds its own next to the turkey on Christmas day. That’s exactly what Delia set out to create.

Can I make this the day before Christmas?

The Delia Online team confirms you can assemble the whole pie a day ahead. Build it up to the point where the lid is on and sealed, then cover and refrigerate without glazing. On Christmas morning, brush with the egg wash and bake from cold, adding a few extra minutes to account for the chilled pastry.

The watercress sauce can also be made ahead and refrigerated separately. Reheat it gently without boiling, then whisk in the final 15 g of butter and 50 ml cream just before serving. Irish stew with dumplings is another good make-ahead option if you need a meat course alongside this pie.

What can I serve with this pie besides watercress sauce?

Delia designed this as a Christmas main course, so roast potatoes and seasonal vegetables are the natural partners. Roasted parsnips with honey work particularly well because their sweetness contrasts with the peppery watercress sauce. Braised red cabbage is another classic Christmas side that would sit well alongside.

Keep the sides simple, because the pie itself is rich with cream, butter and pine nuts. A crisp green salad dressed with lemon juice would be enough for a lighter meal outside of Christmas. The watercress sauce is generous enough to pour over the vegetables too, so you won’t need gravy.