Mushroom and onion pie

I was in M&S the other day (stocking up on Vanilla Fudge bars which t-o-h buys, and eats by the dozen) and the person behind me was buying a roast mushroom and onion pie. That sounds good I thought, I reckon I could do that …so I did.

250g mushrooms, cut into mouth-sized chunks (I’ll let you decide how big that is)
2 onions, sliced
2 tbsp oil
2 small knobs butter
1 tbsp flour
400ml stock
Splash red wine
1 star anise
1 tsp marmite (or tbsp soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce)
3 largish potatoes, mashed with a little butter (i.e. ‘baked’ in the microwave, scooped out and mashed with a fork)

Start with a tablespoon of oil and knob of butter in a hot-ish pan. Throw in the mushrooms, season and leave them to get a bit of colour. When they are soft and just golden (about 5 minutes) scoop them out and put them in an oven proof dish.

Next, put the remaining oil and butter in the same pan and reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the onions and cook until golden and sticky, stirring regularly, which will take about 15-20 minutes (a pinch of sugar and salt will help everything along).

When they are golden brown add the flour and stir for a couple of minutes to cook the flour (add a drop more oil if you think it needs it). Pour in the wine and allow it to evaporate before adding the stock, marmite and star anise. Cook for 5 minutes and check for seasoning.

Remove the star anise and pour the onion mix over the mushrooms. Top with the mash, roughing up the top with a fork. Cook in a preheated 210C oven for about 25 minutes until browned and bubbling.

Dole out onto two plates and serve - with pickled onions and beetroot if you like.