pork pie

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

For the hot water crust pastry

• 200g plain flour
• 40g strong white flour
• 50g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 100ml water
• 1 tsp salt
• 60g lard

For the filling

• 1 onion, very finely chopped
• 350g pork loin, finely chopped *
• 100g unsmoked streaky bacon, finely chopped
• small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
• sea salt and plenty of black pepper 
• egg wash: 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 dstsp milk

*alternatively use left over baked tenderloin or roat pork

 

For the savoury jelly

• 1 chicken stock cube
• 150ml boiling water
• 4 leaves gelatine

Equipment

• rolling pin
• deep pie dish ideally with sloping sides, about 18cm diameter by 5cm deep
• alternatively, this recipe can be used to make 6 small 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 roll the pastry really thin.
  

Method

1. You need to work quickly as the hot water crust pastry needs to be worked while still warm. So prepare the dish and filling first. Preheat the oven to 200C.

2. For the filling, put the onion, pork, bacon and parsley into a bowl, season with salt and black pepper (be generous!) and mix until well combined. 

3. Grease the dish with butter or lard.

4. To make the pastry, sift the flours into a bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

5. Bring the water and salt to a boil then add the lard and stir until the lard has just melted.

6. 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.

7. Roll two thirds of the pastry out 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. Use the rolling pin to lift the pastry over the pie dish and line the dish with it. Fix any gaps or holes with the offcuts.

8. Spoon the mixture into the lined pie dish.  The mixture should be fairly loose so that the jelly can flow through: do not tamp it down.

9. Brush the edges with egg wash, then roll out the remaining pastry, place on top of the mixture and crimp the edges together to seal completely. Brush more egg wash on to the lid. Make a small hole in centre.

10. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes (longer if not well browned).

11. Set 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.

12. Using a funnel, pour the gelatine mixture into the hole in the top of each pie until the hollow cavities within the pie is filled.

13. Allow the pie to set in the fridge overnight.