Pork pie recipe

Baking a classic pork pie takes a bit of time but as blogger Helen Graves describes, it's a lovely satisfying process

Makes 1 very large pie, which fills an 18 or 20cm cake tin

Helen: "It is easiest to start the pie the day before you want to eat it."

For the stock

• Few pork bones
• 1 pig’s trotter or a very small hock
• 1 onion, halved and studded with six cloves
• 1 stick celery, chopped in half
• 6 black peppercorns
• Parsley, thyme and bay leaves
• Roughly 2 litres of water

For the crust

• 100g butter
• 100g lard
• 200ml water
• 550g plain flour
• 1½ tsp salt
• 2 large eggs, plus another for glazing later
• 1 bay leaf

For the filling

• 1.3 kg pork shoulder
• 250g smoked back bacon
• 250g belly pork, minced
• 1 heaped tbsp chopped sage
• 1 tbsp chopped thyme leaves
• 1 generous tsp salt (don’t go overboard as the bacon is salty)
• 1 generous tsp black pepper or to taste
• 1 generous tsp white pepper or to taste
• ½ tsp ground mace (substitute nutmeg if you don’t have it)

1. For the stock, put all the ingredients in a pan and then gently simmer for 3-4 hours, skimming off any scum as necessary. Strain the stock then leave in the fridge overnight or until well chilled and set to a jelly. Scrape off the layer of fat on top and the stock is then ready to be re-heated. You will need about 250ml for the pie (don’t try to get any more in, trust me). The rest is a very valuable addition to your freezer.

2. For the pastry, melt the butter and lard with the water over a gentle heat. Meanwhile, mix the flour with the salt in a large mixing bowl then add the eggs. Use a knife to start cutting it together as you normally would when making pastry. Begin adding the melted fat and water mixture a little at a time until it starts to all come together. Then go in with your hands and bring it together into a ball. Knead very briefly until smooth then wrap in cling film and refrigerate while you make the filling.

3. For the filing, first finely dice the pork shoulder, removing any sinewy bits. I went for quite a coarse dice, about ½ - 1cm square. Then finely dice the bacon too and mix all three meats together in a large mixing bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine well. Take a little bit of the mixture and form into a small patty about the size of a 50p piece, then cook in a frying pan to check the seasonings and adjust to taste as necessary.

4. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Cut off a third of the pastry and set aside for the lid (back in the fridge), then roll out the remaining two thirds on a lightly floured surface. You want a circle big enough to cover the base and edges of your cake tin. Mould the pastry into the tin, making sure that there are no gaps, then stuff with the filling. You can pack it down well as it will shrink during cooking, leaving room for the jelly.

5. Roll out the remaining pastry to make the lid and brush the sides of the pie with beaten egg before putting the lid on top and crimping and sealing well with your fingers. Use a bay leaf to make a hole in the top of the pie and bake on the centre shelf for 30 minutes. After this time, reduce the heat to 160C and back for another hour. Then remove the pie from the tin and brush all over with beaten egg before baking again for 10-15 minutes.

6. Leave to cool for 30 minutes before removing the bay leaf, then re-heat 250ml stock and slowly funnel it into the top of the pie. This takes some time as you have to do it bit by bit. Allow to cool completely and refrigerate to allow the jelly to set completely.

Recipe by blogger Helen Graves of Food Stories