Egg-free egg and bacon pie

Whenever I see a food allergy cookbook, I usually pick it up eagerly, flip through it quickly and put it down with a bit of a sigh. I guess the problem is that we are just dealing with two of a range of allergies, and I (fortunately) don't need to know how to cook without gluten or milk or the number of other foods that can be a problem. I've (mostly) worked out how to adapt recipes with egg in them, and it is easy to avoid cooking with nuts. I just keep hoping somehow to replace those yummy things that are now in the past; satay sauce, omlette, etc...

I found this book 'Allergies, egg, nut and dairy" by Jody Vassallo (Fortiori 2005) recently at the local library. I excitedly borrowed it, as it had one recipe in it that gave me a real 'ohhhh' moment. And eating it made me smile. You see I really love egg and bacon pie. I love it hot, cold, at the table or in a picnic basket. I won't say this tastes exactly the same, but it fills the same food niche. And incidently Hannah loves it.

I've changed the original recipe by substituting onions for leeks as the beautiful leek is currently not acceptable. You can make a single large pie as described, or 4 perky little pies if you have some small pie tins. I haven't put in the crust recipe given in the book as it wasn't to my taste. Commercial puff pastry (the one with butter in it) works well, or make your favourite shortcrust pastry.

Bacon and Tofu Pie

1 medium onion, finely chopped
250g bacon chopped
200g mushrooms, sliced
300g silken tofu
1 tsp honey mustard
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese

Bake pastry lined pie tin for 15 minutes, with beans then a further 10 without.

Fry onion and bacon in 1 tbs olive oil, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes or until soft. Spoon the mixture into the pastry shell. Put the tofu and mustard into a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Pour the mixture over the filling, sprinkle with the cheese and bake for 30 minutes or until the tofu is set. Set aside for 5 minutes before slicing. Serves 4-6