200g Chestnuts
3 large red onions
2 tbsp olive oil
small bunch fresh thyme
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
175g firm goat¢s cheese
500g frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, beaten
Slice the onions and place into a heavy based frying pan with the olive oil. Cook gently for about 15 minutes until soft. Add the leaves from the thyme stalks and stir in the balsamic vinegar and sugar.
Separate the chestnuts and stir them into the onions. Cook together until the chestnuts are glazed. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to form a rectangle, about 35cm long and 30cm wide. Trim the sides to create straight edges. Spoon half of the onion and chestnut mixture onto the middle of the pastry, leaving a 5cm border on all sides.
Remove the rind from the cheese and roughly slice. Place the pieces of cheese on top of the first half of the chestnut mixture and top this with the second half of the chestnut mixture.
With a sharp knife make about 12 cuts down each side of the pastry. Start 5cm from the top of the pastry and space the cuts about 1.5cm apart. Each cut should be about 5cm long. Finish cutting about 5cm from the end of the sides of pastry. This should create a fringe effect on each side of the pastry. Carefully brush each side of the pastry with the beaten egg.
To enclose the chestnut filling take the two ends of the pastry and press them down on top of the filling. Taking the first section of the fringe on the left side of the pastry, lift the pastry up and cross it with the first section of fringe on the right of the pastry. Cross these two sections over, twist together and press the ends down to create a knot effect. Repeat this along the whole length of the pastry until the filling has been encased and the pie is sealed. Brush each end of pastry with beaten egg to ensure that the pastry sticks together. Trim any excess pastry.
Bake the pie in the oven 225C for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden. If the top becomes too golden, turn the heat down after 15 minutes. Serve hot.