The Land Ladies Wartime Homity Pie – Based mostly on an genuine Wartime Recipe from a land woman in Devon, this Homity Pie is pure consolation meals

Homity Pie – A Wartime Recipe additionally referred to as Devon Pie

In the present day’s recipe for The Land Ladies Wartime Homity Pie is one very near my coronary heart, as my late mom used to make it repeatedly, as I do too.
It’s a easy open pie recipe, as in a pie with no lid, that has an interesting classic historical past. The recipe is believed to have originated from The Land Ladies, in Devon, throughout World Warfare II.

It’s made with potatoes, leeks, onions, generally apples, and cheese, with recent eggs or dried eggs, and is baked in a wholemeal pastry crust.
I’ve seen variations with spinach within the recipe too – principally, the recipe comes from an period the place greens had been used to bulk out meals throughout strict rationing.

There are quite a few recipes out there, in books and on-line, however the recipe I’m sharing at the moment comes from notes of a Devon Land Woman, and the native WI.
The land women of the Girls’s Land Military, had been volunteers who labored in agriculture, subsequently filling the hole within the labour drive left by males going to struggle in each World Wars.

They labored lengthy, exhausting hours on farms, small-holdings, with cattle, sheep and horses, in market gardens, in addition to within the timber business.
Logging and forestry work by Land Ladies throughout World Warfare II had been dealt with by the Girls’s Timber Corps (WTC), affectionately often called Lumber Jills.

However, again to at the moment’s recipe for The Land Ladies Wartime Homity Pie. Though I’ve elevated the quantity of cheese, fats and eggs used, I’ve not added cream and so on, as some fashionable recipes have steered.
The recipe is similar to the one which the wholefood Cranks Vegetarian Restaurant in London made, and which launched this ignored wartime recipe again into nationwide recognition.

So, what’s in a reputation? Legend has it that the title “homity” derives from the acronym “HOw Many In Takes In the present day?” a query the Land Ladies had been requested to make sure they consumed sufficient energy to maintain their strenuous work.
Regardless of the title, it’s at all times been an enormous favorite in our household, and as I discussed earlier than, my mom used to make it repeatedly, as she and my father had been vegetarian within the latter a part of their lives.

I’ve used a half and half recipe for the wholemeal pastry case, because it’s a bit extra forgiving when sliced – pure wholemeal pastry may be very crumbly.
Nevertheless, I’ll share the unique wholemeal pastry recipe within the recipe card notes. I used additional mature Cheddar cheese, as it’s so robust, you want much less of it so as to add the tacky flavour.

As soon as made, this pie retains nicely within the fridge for a number of days, and might be reheated very simply in an air-fryer, or in a standard oven. Additionally it is pretty when eaten chilly too, particularly for a picnic.
I hope you’ll get pleasure from this recipe as a lot as we do, and please do depart me a remark under when you make it, or when you want any suggestions. Karen

Typical Weekly Rations for an Grownup
- Bacon & Ham 4 oz
- Different meat to the worth of 1 shilling and a pair of pence (equal to 2 chops)
- Butter 2 oz
- Cheese 2 oz
- Margarine 4 oz
- Cooking fats 4 oz
- Milk 3 pints
- Sugar 8 oz
- Preserves 1 lb each 2 months
- Tea 2 oz
- Eggs 1 recent egg (plus allowance of dried egg)
- Sweets 12 oz each 4 weeks

Ingrdients for The Land Ladies Wartime Homity Pie
- Pastry:
- 150g wholemeal flour
- 150g plain white flour
- 100g dripping, margarine, lard or butter
- Salt, to style
- Water
- Filling:
- 350g potatoes, scrubbed and diced into small cubes (no must peel)
- 25g dripping, oil, lard, margarine or butter
- 2 leeks, cleaned, and finely diced
- 1 onion, peeled and diced
- 1 bunch spring onions, trimmed and diced (or chives in season)
- 2 – 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 1 tablespoon recent parsley, finely chopped
- Contemporary or dried thyme
- 150g additional mature Cheddar cheese, grated
- 2 eggs, overwhelmed with a tablespoon milk
- Salt and white pepper, to style

Cooking Notes
- Use any regional cheese to style, equivalent to Wensleydale, Cheshire, Lancashire, Double Gloucester, Pink Leicester or Caerphilly cheese.
- Use crimson onions instead of yellow onions.
- For added piquancy, add 1/2 teaspoon of English mustard energy to the filling.
- Wholemeal Pastry:
- 300g wholemeal flour
- 100g margarine, lard or butter
- Salt, to style
- Water
- Combine flour and salt in basin, rub within the butter till it resembles high quality breadcrumbs.
- Utilizing a knife to chop and stir, combine with chilly water to type a stiff dough.
- Don’t over combine, mild of hand is greatest.
- Permit pastry dough to sit back and “calm down” for half-hour, in a fridge or a cool place, cowl the bowl or put the pastry in some cling movie.

Extra Wartime Recipes






The Girls’s Land Military Recruitment Adverts


A Girls’s Land Military Cook dinner E book


The Girls’s Land Military Posters


The Land Ladies Wartime Homity Pie Recipe

The Land Ladies Wartime Homity Pie
Yield:
8
Prep Time:
half-hour
Cook dinner Time:
45 minutes
Whole Time:
1 hour quarter-hour
In the present day’s recipe for The Land Ladies Wartime Homity Pie is one very near my coronary heart, as my late mom used to make it repeatedly , as I do too.
It is a easy open pie recipe, as in a pie with no lid, that has an interesting classic historical past. The recipe is believed to have originated from The Land Ladies, in Devon, throughout World Warfare II.
It is made with potatoes, leeks, onions, generally apples, and cheese, with recent eggs or dried eggs, and is baked in a wholemeal pastry crust.
I’ve seen variations with spinach within the recipe too – principally, the recipe comes from an period the place greens had been used to bulk out meals throughout strict rationing.
There are quite a few recipes out there, in books and on-line, however the recipe I’m sharing at the moment comes from notes of a Devon Land Woman, and the native WI.
The land women of the Girls’s Land Military, had been volunteers who labored in agriculture, subsequently filling the hole within the labour drive left by males going to struggle in each World Wars.
They labored lengthy, exhausting hours on farms, small-holdings, with cattle, sheep and horses, in market gardens, in addition to within the timber business.
Logging and forestry work by Land Ladies throughout World Warfare II had been dealt with by the Girls’s Timber Corps (WTC), affectionately often called Lumber Jills.
However, again to at the moment’s recipe for The Land Ladies Wartime Homity Pie. Though I’ve elevated the quantity of cheese, fats and eggs used, I’ve not added cream and so on, as some fashionable recipes have steered.
The recipe is similar to the one which the wholefood Cranks Vegetarian Restaurant in London made, and which launched this ignored wartime recipe again into nationwide recognition.
So, what’s in a reputation? Legend has it that the title “homity” derives from the acronym “HOw Many In Takes In the present day?”, a query the Land Ladies had been requested to make sure they consumed sufficient energy to maintain their strenuous work.
Regardless of the title, it is at all times been an enormous favorite in our household, and as I discussed earlier than, my mom used to make it repeatedly, as she and my father had been vegetarian of their latter years.
I’ve used a half and half recipe for the wholemeal pastry case, as it is a bit extra forgiving when sliced – pure wholemeal pastry may be very crumbly.
Nevertheless, I’ll share the unique wholemeal pastry recipe within the recipe card notes. I used additional mature Cheddar cheese, as it’s so robust, you want much less of it so as to add the tacky flavour.
As soon as made, this pie retains nicely within the fridge for a number of days, and might be reheated very simply in an air-fryer, or in a standard oven. IT can also be pretty when eaten chilly too, particularly for a picnic.
I hope you’ll get pleasure from this recipe as a lot as we do, and please do depart me a remark under when you make it, or when you want any suggestions. Karen
Substances
- Pastry:
- 150g wholemeal flour
- 150g plain white flour
- 100g margarine, lard or butter
- Salt, to style
- Water
- Filling:
- 350g potatoes, scrubbed and diced into small cubes (no must peel)
- 25g dripping, oil, lard, margarine or butter
- 2 leeks, cleaned, and finely diced
- 1 onion, peeled and diced
- 1 bunch spring onions, trimmed and diced (or chives in season)
- 2 – 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 1 tablespoon recent parsley, finely chopped
- Contemporary or dried thyme
- 150g additional mature Cheddar cheese, grated
- 2 eggs, overwhelmed with a tablespoon milk
- Salt and white pepper, to style
Directions
- Make the pastry:
- Combine flour and salt in basin, rub within the fats till it resembles high quality breadcrumbs.
- Utilizing a knife to chop and stir, combine with chilly water to type a stiff dough. Don’t over combine, mild of hand is greatest. Permit pastry dough to sit back and “calm down” for half-hour, in a fridge or a cool place, cowl the bowl or put the pastry in some cling movie.
- To make the pie crust:
- Flip dough on to a floured floor and knead evenly. Roll out and line a deep greased 8″ (20cm) flan dish or pie plate.
- Make the filling: Boil or steam the potatoes till tender. Set them apart.
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/400°F /gasoline mark 6. Place a baking sheet within the oven to warmth up – this helps with baking the bottom of the pie.
- Soften the dripping or fats in a big pan, and sauté the leeks, onions, spring onions and garlic for 3 to five minutes till comfortable and cooked.
- Mix the cooked potatoes with the leek and onion combination, add the parsley, thyme, 100g of the cheese, eggs, combine and season nicely to style.
- Spoon the filling into the pastry case, after which sprinkle the remaining 50g of cheese excessive.
- Place the flan dish on the baking sheet and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or till the pastry is golden brown, and the filling is about.
- Take away the pie from the oven and permit to come back to room temperature, earlier than slicing into wedges and serving.
- Serve with steamed greens, or salad and diverse pickles and sauces.
Notes
Use any regional cheese to style, equivalent to Wensleydale, Cheshire, Lancashire, Double Gloucester, Pink Leicester or Caerphilly cheese.
Use crimson onions instead of yellow onions.
For added piquancy, add 1/2 teaspoon of English mustard energy to the filling.
Wholemeal Pastry:
300g wholemeal flour
100g margarine, lard or butter
Salt, to style
Water
Combine flour and salt in basin, rub within the butter till it resembles high quality breadcrumbs.
Utilizing a knife to chop and stir, combine with chilly water to type a stiff dough.
Don’t over combine, mild of hand is greatest.
Permit pastry dough to sit back and “calm down” for half-hour, in a fridge or a cool place, cowl the bowl or put the pastry in some cling movie.
Diet Data
Yield 8
Serving Dimension 1
Quantity Per Serving
Energy 402Whole Fats 20gSaturated Fats 6gUnsaturated Fats 14gLdl cholesterol 65mgSodium 152mgCarbohydrates 44gFiber 3gSugar 2gProtein 12g
Private Household Be aware:
My later mother-in-law was an area Land Woman in East Yorkshire. As she had a younger household, she lived at house and was despatched to completely different farms, as and when she was wanted.
Gallery



Poster of a land woman by Laura Knight

Date1939–1946Catalogue reference INF 3/108
This portray by British artist Dame Laura Knight was commissioned by the Ministry of Data for use to publicise the Girls’s Land Military. Its medium is watercolour, gouache and charcoal and it depicts a girl ploughing a subject with two horses. Laura Knight had direct expertise of engaged on farms gained in the course of the First World Warfare, so she knew the topic nicely.
She had clear opinions on how land women must be offered with a purpose to promote their work most successfully. In a letter in regards to the fee she wrote: ‘That there must be one woman solely with the plough is necessary, for evidently farmers is not going to have interaction women as a rule for that work as it’s thought-about too costly as a result of they are saying it take 2 women to work instead of one man, however there are women equivalent to this one who can handle a plough on her personal, and she or he cuts as straight a furrow as any man.’






