It seems to be tradition in this house to make a huge terrine at Easter, see inter alia my post from 2014. However this year we decided to be different and do a large home-made pork pie instead – and yes, do it properly with hot water pastry.

I’ve not done hot water pastry before, but N has and so did my mother occasionally, so I knew the basic idea. This is the traditional pastry for pork pie. It isn’t difficult and is actually quite forgiving. To be absolutely traditional it is made with lard; while that produces a good flavour it isn’t wonderfully healthy. It turns out that butter (which is just a bit healthier) works OK too, although it does make a slightly softer pastry.

Anyway this is what I did …

What to do …

1. Make the filling first!
2. Cut the bacon into 5mm squares (do not remove the fat) and add to a large mixing bowl.
3. Similarly cut the pork fillet into roughly 5mm dice and add to the bacon.
4. Skin the sausages and add them with the mince to the pork.
5. Add the herbs, a good grind of black pepper, and then another, and the same with nutmeg.
6. Get in there with your hands and mix it all well. Set aside.
7. Heat the oven to 205°C. While it heats up make the pastry.
8. Grease well, and/or line with parchment, an 8″ cake tin.
9. Put the flour in another large mixing bowl and make a well in the centre.
10. Gently melt the butter and water together in a saucepan.
11. When the butter is all melted add this to the well in the flour and mix it together with a wooden spoon – it will be hot!
12. When it is almost mixed, and has cooled a little, finish mixing the pastry with your hands. You should have a soft dough.
13. Reserve about a third of the pastry to make the pie lid.
14. Roll out the larger portion and line the cake tin; let the excess pastry flap over the edge.
15. If the pastry splits, don’t panic; just use a few of the extra bits from the edges to patch the holes – it’s fine; this is how hot water pastry is so forgiving.
16. Add the filling to the pie case and pack it down well.
17. Roll out the lid; dampen the edges of the pastry case with beaten egg; put on the lid and press firmly onto the case using your fingers to make a pretty scalloped edge.
18. Trim the edges and use the offcuts to make decorations for the lid.
19. Don’t forget to cut a hole in the centre of the lid, in case you want to fill the cooked pie with jelly. [5]
20. Glaze with beaten egg. Place the tin on a baking sheet.
21. Cook for 30 minutes at 205°C, then turn the oven down to 165°C and cook for a further 1½-2 hours until the juices run clear on application of a skewer. (If you’re a meat thermometer fan then you need to get the centre to at least 70°C.)
22. Leave the pie to cool, preferably overnight in the fridge, before removing from the tin.

Notes
[1] This should make plenty of pastry for a round 8″ (20cm) cake tin (preferably one with a removable base).
[2] Note the omission of salt as we used salted butter; add a tiny amount if you’re using unsalted butter. Similarly with the filling, the bacon may well be salt enough.
[3] No this is not too much for an 8″ cake tin; it packs down surprisingly well, which you want.
[4] Or any other good, flavoursome, pork meat like shoulder.
[5] If you wish to fill the pie with the traditional jelly, you need to do it as soon as it comes out of the oven. Use a funnel to carefully pour hot jelly into the hole in the pie lid. I didn’t bother, so I’ll leave you to work out how to make a suitable pork jelly.
[6] Having done all of that I felt that the filling needed a bit more seasoning. I note that Jane Grigson in Good Things adds teaspoon quantities of spice (cinnamon, allspice) to her filling in addition to the nutmeg. Or you might want to add a little salt. Or perhaps some garlic paste. Or a layer of sharp apple (like Bramley) in the centre of the filling.