We call the little beauties pinch pie. They  show off  great  British  asparagus , kale and tangy goats cheese a treat and can work really well as a man course with buttered new potatoes with dressed mixed leaves or as a great snack whenever you’re in the mood.

Serves: 6

What You’ll Need:

For the filling

• 30g unsalted butter
• ¼ onion, diced
• ½ leek, sliced
• 1 garlic clove crushed
• 30g plain flour
• Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 200ml milk
• nutmeg
• 50g kale, finely shredded
• 100g goats cheese + 50g extra for garnish
• For the pies
• 600g puff pastry
• 1 large free-range egg yolk
• 24 spears of asparagus
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon linseeds

What To Do:

• First prepare a filling. Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat with the butter, add the onion, leeks and garlic with seasoning and sauté for 5 minutes until soft and the mix start to take on colour, add the flour and cook for further one minute whist stirring continuously, slowly add a dash of milk at a time, stir well after each addition, cook the mix for further 3 minutes until cooked and the mix has thickened, stir in a couple of gratings of fresh nutmeg. Set aside to cool completely, chilled is best.
• Once the mix is completely cold stir in the shredded kale and 100g crumbed goats cheese.
• Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. Lightly grease a baking tray and set aside. Roll out the puff pastry to about 2mm thickness and cut out six 12cm squares, then brush the top surfaces all over with beaten egg yolk. Trim the woody ends from fresh asparagus spears, and then cut the stems into thin slices, leaving the asparagus spears 8cm long.
• Stir the sliced asparagus pieces into the filling.
• Spoon the mixture into the centre of each puff pastry square, dividing it evenly. Toss the asparagus spears in olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and then lay 4 asparagus spears over each portion of the filling mixture. Crumb over the remaining 50g goats cheese.
• With each pastry square, fold 2 opposite corners of pastry over the asparagus so that the pastry joins in the centre and press the corners together to seal (the filling will not be completely enclosed in the pastry). Brush the unglazed pastry with beaten egg yolk and sprinkle with linseeds. Place the pies on the prepared baking tray and bake in the oven for 22–25 minutes or until the pastry is cooked, golden brown and crisp.

Martin Dewey from Square Pie, The Gourmet Pie Company shares his summer pie recipes for you to try out at home. For more information visit: www.squarepie.com @SquarePie