Pastry is my favourite carb, so never need much persuading to make a pie or tart. This one, for a freeform tart is also quite rustic in presentation, so suits my style of cooking perfectly. I don’t think I did too badly attempting to make it look like the image in the cookbook!

Swede is an underused vegetable and so many people have no idea what to do with it, other than make (the albeit delicious) swede & carrot mash, so this is a great recipe if you have a sad looking swede in the fridge that needs to be used.

Recipe by Nigel Slater – Serves 6

Ingredients

For the pastry:

• plain flour 200g
• rye or wholemeal flour 100g
• thyme leaves 1 tablespoon
• butter 150g
• salt a pinch
• an egg, beaten

For the filling:

• a medium onion
• butter 90g
• swede 450g
• chestnut mushrooms 250g
• Gruyère 250g

Instructions

• Make the pastry: put both the flours and the thyme leaves in a large bowl, cut the 150g of butter into small pieces, then add it with the salt to the flour and rub together with your fingertips until you have a bread- crumb-like consistency. Introduce enough cold water to produce a soft, rollable dough. Alternatively, you could make this in a food processor. Turn out onto a floured work surface, pat into a ball, flatten the top, then wrap in baking parchment and refrigerate for thirty minutes.
• Set the oven at 200°C/Gas 6. Place an upturned baking sheet or pizza stone in the oven to heat up. Peel and roughly chop the onion then let it soften in 30g of the butter over medium heat in a large, wide pan. Peel the swede, cut it in half lengthways, then cut each half into quarters. Slice each quarter thinly. Remove the onion from the pan – it should be pale gold and translucent. Add the pieces of swede to the pan, adding more butter if necessary, turning them as they brighten and soften. Thinly slice the mushrooms, then add them to the pan, with the remaining butter, and cook till pale gold. Grate the Gruyère into a large bowl, then add the swede, onions and mushrooms. Season generously with black pepper.
• On the floured board, roll the pastry out into a large, rough-edged circle approximately 30cm in diameter and transfer to a parchment-lined or flour-dusted baking sheet. Pile the filling in the centre of the pastry, leaving a wide gap of bare pastry round the edge. Fold the edges of the pastry over the filling, leaving the middle open. Brush the edges with beaten egg, then place the whole baking sheet on top of the hot sheet or stone in the oven and cook for twenty-five minutes, till the pastry is pale gold and the filling has crisped on top. Leave to settle for ten minutes before slicing.