pork pie

Took me a few times to get this right - but well worth it!  

makes 1 big pie or 6 small ones

For the big pie use a pie dish roughly 18cm diameter by 5cm deep.

For the individual pies the main thing is to get the right shaped tin - best is a muffin tin, with 6 holes, non stick.  The holes are 8-9cm dia and a good depth (~4cm) with slightly sloping sides - but small ceramic dishes of similar size work too (grease well); and to roll the pastry really thin.

For the hot water crust pastry

• 200g/7oz plain flour
• 40g/1½oz strong white flour
• 50g/1¾oz unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 100ml/3½fl oz water
• 1 tsp salt
• 60g/2¼oz lard

 

For the filling

• 1 large egg/6 quails' eggs
  NB this works without the eggs but you will need to add a little more filling.
• 1 onion, very finely chopped
• 350g/12oz pork loin, finely chopped
• 100g/3½oz unsmoked streaky bacon, finely chopped
• small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
• sea salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper
• 1 free-range egg, beaten
• 1 chicken stock cube
  150ml/5fl oz boiling water
• 4 leaves gelatine

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. 
2. Grease the tin with a little butter or lard.
   
3. To make the pastry, sift the flours into a bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. 
4. Bring the water and salt to a boil then add the lard and stir until the lard has just melted.
   
5. Pour the lard and water over the flour mixture and stir to form a dough. Tip the dough onto a floured work surface and work into a smooth ball (work quickly or the dough will become too firm to handle).
   
6. Roll the pastry out to a thickness of about 3mm. NB this is very thin - as thin as you can make it.  You need to use lots of flour to keep dusting the board and on top of the pastry.  
7. Cut out one large or six circles bigger than the tin/tin holes (you can use a bowl rim to do this) and line the tin. Cut six 10cm/4in circles for the lids and set them aside.
   
8. For the filling, cook the egg/s in a pan of boiling water for five minutes (large)/two minutes (quail) then refresh in cold water, peel carefully and set aside.
   
9. Put the onion, pork, bacon and parsley into a bowl, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and mix until well combined. 
10. Spoon a little of the mixture into the lined pie case/s, place an egg in the centre and spoon over the rest to fill.  The mixture should be fairly loose so that the jelly can flow through: do not tamp it down.
    
11. Brush the edges with a little beaten egg, place the lids on top and crimp the edges together to seal completely. Brush more egg on to the lid.  Make a small hole in centre of each pie (big enough for the funnel at 13) and bake in the oven for 40 minutes (longer if not well browned).
    
12. When the pies are cooked, set them aside to cool. Dissolve the stock cube in the boiling water. Soak the gelatine in a little cold water until soft then squeeze out excess water and whisk into the warm chicken stock.
    
13. Using a funnel, pour the gelatine mixture into the hole in the top of each pie until the hollow cavity within the pie is filled. 
14. Allow the pies to set in the fridge overnight.