Day 1: Lord Woolton Pie

Yesterday, as I tootled around the local supermarket, I was really looking forward to this week's ration cooking challenge. Groceries were basic - carrots, beetroot, parsnip, potatoes, etc. Nothing processed, except the Spam. From two supermarkets, I managed to get everything I needed, except an egg substitute. I'll look for a health food store tomorrow and if I can't find it, I'll pretend we live in the country and have chooks.

After porridge for breakfast and an Oslo meal for lunch, it was time to tackle the first dinner recipe for the week. Tonight we had Lord Woolton pie. This dish was named after the Minister of Food from 1940 and apparently it wasn't altogether well received at the time. I can see why that might be if you had to eat it regularly. It's sort of like a thick, winter vegetable soup, baked in a dish under a crust of wholemeal pastry or potato. While it might not sound all that appetising, I found it warming and wholesome and it felt healthy.

The recipe advises to serve with gravy. You need the gravy to give it some extra body and to make it feel more like a meal. For gravy, I used a chicken gravy that Tim (yes, Tim!!!) made for dinner last night. It was delicious and added just that little bit of extra flavour. I chose a crust of sliced potato because I didn't feel like making pastry from scratch and it was fine. Possibly I should have mashed the potato first, but the recipe didn't stipulate. Other versions say to top with some cheese, but I didn't do that either. Next time I will.

I also said I wasn't going to alter the recipes this week as far as possible. I didn't, except that I will be using stock cubes instead of 'vegetable extract.' Having done some research, I think this is about as close as I'll get. Oh, and one last thing - I halved the proportions below, because 1.8 kilograms is a lot of vegetables for two people for one dinner!

Verdict: This is such an easy recipe to make and it's actually very tasty but you do need to season it well. The gravy helps with this. It's also fairly filling, although you will need something else with it unless you eat a whole lot of it. We had leftover roast chicken. Would I make it again? Yes, in some form. I'd probably make the pastry or top it with mashed potatoes and cheese to make it a little more robust.

Tim says: It was yummy. Full of flavour, filling and good comfort food. I would eat this one more often. I was a little bit hungry afterwards, but I didn't have much to start with. I'll be happy if the food is this good all week.

Ingredients
450g each of diced potatoes, cauliflower, swedes and carrots
3-4 spring onions
1tsp vegetable extract
1tsp oatmeal
a little chopped parsley
225g cooked, sliced potatoes or wholemeal pastry for topping

Place the diced vegetables, spring onions, vegetable extract and oatmeal into a saucepan, add just enough water to cover, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool.  Put the mixture into a pie dish and sprinkle with parsley. Cover with a crust of potatoes or pastry. Bake in a moderate oven until the topping is nicely brown and serve hot with gravy.

Recipe from: Ration Book Cookery by Gill Corbishley, 2004, p19.