Butter Beans in Pastry Case

A historical recipe from The best vegetarian dishes I know, by Jeanne Jardine (1910).

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A historical recipe

The best vegetarian dishes I know, by Jeanne Jardine (1910). Project Gutenberg eBook #70164.

From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards.

Ingredients 5 ingredients

Keep children and pets away from the hob and the oven, and keep oven gloves and a lid within reach.

Oven and hot trays. Use dry oven gloves for trays and dishes: a hot tray looks just like a cold one. Open the oven door away from your face and let the first rush of heat out.
Boiling water and steam. Turn pan handles inward, away from the edge of the hob. Lift lids away from you, and pour hot water away from your body: steam burns too.
Sharp knives. Cut on a board that doesn't slip (a damp cloth under it helps), and curl the fingers of the hand that holds the food.

Half a pound of short paste, ¹⁄₂ root of celeriac, ¹⁄₂ lb.
butter beans, ¹⁄₂ pint white sauce (see recipe on page 106), ¹⁄₂ oz.
butter, chopped parsley.
Method.--Line a buttered pastry ring (about six inches in diameter) with the paste, which should be a quarter of an inch thick, and fill it with about a teacupful of rice wrapped up securely in greased paper and bake in a quick oven.
When done remove the rice and turn the pastry case carefully from the ring and place it on a shelf in the oven where the heat is moderate, for about five minutes;
the appearance will be improved if the sides and edge are brushed over with egg before the case is put back in the oven.
Serve it filled with beans, prepared according to the directions given below, and scatter the chopped parsley over the surface.
If preferred a case of mashed potato can be used instead of the pastry;
it should be brushed over with beaten egg and then browned in the oven.
Cook the beans--which should have previously soaked for twelve hours in cold water--until they are tender, then drain them thoroughly, season them with salt and pepper and put them for ten minutes into a sauce made thus: Boil the celeriac (after cleaning and peeling it) in salted water until it is done, then pass it through a wire sieve and mix it with half a pint of carefully-prepared white sauce;
make it hot, then add the beans and half an ounce of butter and use as directed.