Preheat oven to 170°C

* Roll the pastry out so that it covers your skillet with a few inches to spare. Set aside in the fridge.

• Fry the mushrooms in batches in the large oven-safe skillet that you will be using for the pie and fry on a high heat with a tbsp of olive oil. By frying on a high heat, without stirring frequently, the mushrooms will brown & therefore provide a much better flavour. At this point add some salt to the cubed aubergines to draw out the excess moisture.
• Set the mushrooms aside and reduce the heat to low in your skillet. Add the butter & leeks to sweat for around 8 minutes on a low heat until they are glossy & soft.
• Then add the fresh thyme and aubergines (squeezed with a clean tea-towel of their excess liquids) into the pan and continue to fry for around 8 minutes, adding the garlic for the final minute to fry. The browned mushrooms can be thrown back in the pan at this stage. * I accidentally added the garlic before the aubergines in this video – pls ignore and do the order stated in the text.
• Next, add the stock and soy sauce and bring up to a low simmer for another 5 minutes. Then, add the cornflour paste (cornflour + a few tbsp of water combined) to the pot and stir until the sauce thickens. At this point, kill the heat, leave to cool a little and stir the cream into the pot. If the liquid is still boiling/really hot, the cream will split so be wary of this. Season with lots of black pepper and additional salt to taste.
• Lightly dust your rolling pin with flour and gently roll the chilled pastry onto it. Then, spread the pastry over the pan and trim the edges leaving 1 inch around the circumference of the pan. Tuck the excess pastry under and crimp the edges with a fork (or fold artistically if you’ve got pastry skills). Lightly coat with egg wash & pop in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.