Cheese & Onion pie made with cheese pastry

This is a deliciously light melt in your mouth pastry you will love this pie but be warned one slice is just not enough.

Cheese pastry

300g x plain flour

½ tsp x salt

½ tsp x English powdered mustard

Pinch Cayenne pepper

140g x lard cut into small pieces

140g x finely grated mature cheddar cheese

1 x egg yolk

2 x tbsp cold water

Milk or egg yolk to glaze

Sift the flour, salt , mustard and Cheyenne pepper into a bowl add the lard and rub with you finger tips till it resembles fine breadcrumbs (this can be done using a blender)

Mix in the cheese then add the egg yolk and water a little at a time until the pastry starts to clump together, lightly knead the pastry until it becomes smooth in texture wrap in cling film and put in the fridge until your ready to use it.

Cheese filling

25g x butter

2 x onions chopped

1 x tbsp water

300g mature cheddar cheese grated

2 x tbsp double cream or milk

2 x eggs lightly beaten

Pepper to taste

Melt the butter over a medium heat add the onion and cook for around 15 minutes, add the water and cook for a further 15 minutes and set aside to cool.

In a bowl combine the cheese, onion, egg and cream add the pepper and stir until well mixed.

Grease a 10 inch oven proof pie dish.

Divide the pastry making sure one half is slightly bigger, use this for the base and the smaller for the lid, Roll out the base pastry on a lightly floured surface and use to line the pie dish, and then spoon the cheese mixture on top, roll out the remaining pastry, brush the pie edges with water before placing the pastry lid on top, using the tip of a fork press to seal the pastry edge, brush the top with milk or egg yolk and with a pointed knife  make two slits in the pastry lid to let out the steam, place the pie on a baking tray and cook on  the middle shelf in a pre-heated oven 220C/425F/Gas mark 7 for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown, leave to cool down for 10 minutes before serving.