Swedish Västerbotten cheese pie (Västerbottenpaj)

1. Rub the flour with the cold, diced butter until crumbly, add the cold water and quickly bring together into a dough; wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.

2. Roll out the pastry, line a 24 cm tart tin, pressing it up the sides, prick with a fork and chill for another 15 minutes.

3. Line with baking paper and dried beans and blind-bake at 200 °C for 10 minutes, then remove the weights and bake for another 5 minutes.

4. Grate the cheese; whisk the eggs with the cream and pepper until smooth and stir in the cheese.

5. Pour the filling into the pastry case and bake at 175 °C for 25-30 minutes until set and golden on top.

6. Let it cool until lukewarm and serve with crayfish, cured salmon or simply a green salad.

Tip: Västerbottenpaj is a favourite on festive Swedish tables - the Christmas smörgåsbord, Midsummer and the crayfish party (kräftskiva). Västerbottensost is a hard, salty, slightly bitter Swedish cheese aged for at least a year; elsewhere, use half mature cheddar and half parmesan. Always keep the pastry cold and don't knead it for long, so it stays short and crumbly.