Pork Pie Recipe from The Cast Iron Lady - Sarah Whitaker

We love working with Range Cooker experts, and Sarah Whitaker, also known as "The Cast Iron Lady".  Sarah has been kind enough to give us this delicious Pork Pie recipe made in her own Esse cooker (of course also using our Sarah Whitaker textile collection).
An ideal recipe for picnics or outside lunches.

Pork pie recipe

"I avoided making pork pies for years and years, thinking they were difficult and therefore not for me, until I tried one!  This is the easiest pastry in the world to make, crisp and delicious and it sits happily for hours in the range, cooking with no effort at all!  The vegetable stock powder is an unusual addition, but it gives a wonderful depth of flavour to the meat" - Sarah Whitaker

To feed more people: Double the quantity will make a pie in a 8” / 20cms cake tin and will feed up to 9, triple the quantity will make a pie in a 10” / 27 cms tin and will feed up to 15, especially if served as part of a larger meal or picnic. But it will need at least an extra hour in the simmering oven to cook.

Ingredients Needed

• 12 oz (350g) plain flour
• 4 oz (110g) lard or butter
• 8 tbsp water
• Salt and pepper
• 1 lb (450g) pork casserole meat or belly rashers
• 8 oz (225g) bacon pieces
• 1 tbsp stock powder
• Salt and pepper
• 1 egg, beaten
• ½ pint (300ml) good home made stock

Oven: Baking oven, 180C, 375F, Gas 4, then simmering oven, 130C, 250F, Gas 1
Prepare in advance: Cooked, cooled pie will keep in the fridge for 48 hours
Freeze: Yes

Method

1. Put the lard or butter and water into a pan and set on the simmering plate to melt together.  Bring to the boil, then tip in the flour and beat into a dough.
2.  Grease a 6” (15cms) cake tin and put in about two thirds of the pastry.  Spread this out to cover the case and sides of the tin.  Leave to cool, wrapping the remaining third of the pastry in cling film until needed.
3.  Chop the pork and bacon into small dice.  Mix with the stock powder and seasoning, and pile into the tin.  Press down firmly, so that it all fits in.
4.  Roll out the remaining pastry to make a lid for the pie – stick it on with some water and press down on the edges to seal, make a hole in the top for steam to escape, brush with beaten egg, then bake the pie.
5.  Baking oven:  put the grid shelf on the floor of the baking oven and set the tin onto it.  Bake for about 1½ hours until well browned, then transfer to the simmering oven for a further hour to finish cooking.
6.  Roasting oven:  Set the tin into the large roasting tin and hang from the 4^th runners in the roasting oven, and slide the plain shelf onto the 2^nd runners.  Bake for about 50 minutes until well browned, then transfer the pie to the simmering oven for a further hour and a half to continue cooking without browning any more.
7.  Take the pie from the oven and allow to cool a little.
8.  While the pie is cooling, bring the stock to boiling point.  Using a funnel, pour the stock into the hole in the centre of the pie to fill any gaps left when the meat shrank as it cooked.
9.  Serve the pie cold, but not straight from the fridge.