What could be more enticing than mussel meat smothered in a velvety, mild, curry flavoured cream, topped with crispy pastry? Say hello to the Curried Mussel Pot Pie! I adapted this recipe from one of my favourite cookbooks, The Pie Book which is written by Caroline Bretherton. What I love about pies (minus the ten thousand calories) is their versatility. There are so many different delicious fillings on offer, except for the ones which I came across when I was still living in Cape Town. It was many years ago so I’m very vague on the name of the shop, but it was in Hout Bay and their speciality was, what they called “exotic pies”. Crocodile, ostrich, pheasant and shark are just a few of the pie fillings they had on offer. No Thank You! Just give me roast chicken or chicken and mushroom. I can’t even deal with steak and kidney. If you don’t count calories or don’t need to count calories, pies are a great go-to meal. Presented in display cabinets all hot and ready to eat, they can be bought over the counter at most supermarkets and corner cafés; although I’m not too eager on the latter. If you are adventurous in the kitchen, you can concoct your own filling from leftover food or, using your imagination and a roll of store bought puff pastry, make your own creation from scratch.

For this delicious pie filling, you will need:
800g Mussel meat (cleaned)
1 tbsp. olive oil
25g butter
1 onion roughly chopped
1 bunch of parsley
120ml dry white wine
120ml fish stock
4 baby leeks, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
2 tsp medium curry powder
2 tsp fresh chilli (very finely chopped)
1 punnet fresh cream
2 tbsp. chopped coriander
For the Pastry:
1 roll of already made Puff pastry
Method:
In a heavy based saucepan on medium heat, melt the butter and olive oil together. Add the onion, leeks, carrots, parsley, curry powder and chilli and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the white wine and fish stock, turn stove on low and allow to simmer for a further 10 minutes.
Finally, add the mussel meat, fresh coriander and cream, mix through and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
Divide Mussel mixture between 6 – 8 10cm round pie dishes.
Roll out the pastry onto a floured surface and cut into 6 – 8 “lids” to fit the top of the pie dishes. Moisten the rim of each dish with water and press the lids on firmly to seal. Brush with a beaten egg and cut a hole in the centre of each lid to allow steam to escape.
Place the pies on a baking tray and bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 15-20 minutes until browned.