Pork Pies

4.20 (14)
⏱ 55 mins 🍽 Serves 6 🏷 Pork

These traditional pork pies are made with a hot water crust pastry, filled with a savoury mixture of diced pork butt, bacon, apple, onion and aromatic spices. The pies are baked in individual ramekins until golden brown and served cool with hot English mustard. The recipe yields six individual pies and takes about 55 minutes to prepare and bake.

Pork Pies

Ingredients

  • Filling:
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 2 fresh sprigs thyme
  • 1 small onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 1 cup)
  • 1/2 green apple, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 1/2 cup)2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 450g boneless pork butt, cut into 1/4-inch dice
  • 6 slices thick-cut bacon, finely chopped
  • 2 teaspoons fresh sage, finely chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground mace
  • 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
  • Dough:
  • 480g all-purpose flour
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 6 tablespoons lard
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 teaspoon water
  • Hot English mustard, for serving

Method

  1. For the filling, melt the butter in a medium skillet. Add 1/2 teaspoon of the salt along with the thyme, onions and apples. Cook until the apples and onions have softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes. Take off the heat, discard the thyme sprigs and allow the mixture to cool fully.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the cooled apple and onion mixture with the pork butt, bacon, sage, black pepper, mace, nutmeg, white pepper and the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Place half of this mixture into a food processor and pulse roughly 10 times until it begins to form a paste. Return this to the bowl and mix thoroughly with the remaining chunky pieces. Refrigerate the filling while you prepare the dough.
  3. To make the dough, put the flour into a large bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the butter, lard and salt with 2/3 cup water until the fats have melted. Pour this into the flour and mix until a smooth dough forms. While the dough is still warm, take 1/4 cup portions and press each into a ramekin to cover the bottom and sides, extending slightly past the top. Ensure the dough is about 1/8-inch thick with no holes. Divide the rest of the dough into six pieces and roll each into a circle roughly 4 inches in diameter to form lids. Cut a small vent hole in the centre of each lid.
  4. Position a baking sheet on the bottom rack of your oven. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C.
  5. Spoon approximately 1/2 cup of the meat filling into each prepared ramekin. Brush the beaten egg yolk onto the dough overhang around the ramekin edges, avoiding the ramekin itself. Also brush egg wash on the edges of the dough circles. Place the lids egg-wash-side down over the ramekins. Trim any excess dough with scissors and seal the edges by pressing with a fork. Brush the tops with more egg wash.
  6. Set the ramekins on the hot baking sheet in the oven. Bake on the bottom rack for 20 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and continue baking for 25 to 30 minutes longer, until the pies are golden brown and slightly puffed.
  7. Allow the pies to cool completely before carefully removing them from the ramekins. Serve at room temperature with hot English mustard.

Nutrition (per serving)

Nutrition data not available.

Recipe details

CategoryPork
AuthorFood Network UK