Individual Scallop Pies

Peel and trim the onion, then dice it finely. Top and tail the carrot, then grate it coarsely. Melt the butter in a pan over a medium-low heat, then add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook for 10 minutes, or until soft. Add the carrot and thyme to the pan, then crush in the garlic and cook for two minutes, stirring. Next, pour in the wine, increase the heat a little and cook until the pan contents have reduced by about one-third. Add the cream, then cook until the mixture thickens, then take off the heat and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Next, beat the egg, then dust your worksurface with flour and roll out the puff pastry to about 3mm thick. Place the scallop shells hollow-side down on the pastry and cut roughly around them, cutting about 2cm out from the shell edge, so you have a slightly larger ‘lid’ than shell. Flip the shells back over and take them off the pastry. Cut each scallop in half horizontally, then divide the pieces evenly between the shells before covering them with the sauce. Brush lightly around the inside top of each shell, then sit a pastry lid over the scallop mixture. Use a sharp knife to trim away the excess pastry, then press the pastry tightly to the shell edges, to seal. Use the back of a knife to make long ‘sun ray’ marks on the pastry lids (like the markings on a scallop shell), then brush with the beaten egg and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Heat the oven to 200⁰C (Gas Mark 6). Take a large baking tray and sit the four small silicone moulds or cookie cutters on it, then sit a filled scallop shell on each – this will stabilise the pies and stop them tipping while cooking. Brush the pastry with any remaining beaten egg, then cook in the hot oven for

20 minutes, or until the pastry is puffed and golden. *Please take care if using metal cookie cutters, as they will get extremely hot in the oven.*