PORK PIE RECIPE

Homemade pies are my quick fix for a busy day. This is a perfect recipe for the busy family, lunch boxes, dinner and can be kept frozen for 2 weeks and bake when needed. You can substitute the filling with either fish, vegetables, poultry or meat.

Ingredients;

Serves 4

Short crust pastry

250g of plain flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

125g of cubed cold butter

60ml cold water

Salt to taste

Method;

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl.

Add the salt, cubed butter and rub between your fingers till you have a breadcrumb consistency.

Alternatively add the flour , baking powder, salt and butter to a food processor and pulse to a breadcrumb consistency. This should take less than a minute.

Add the cold water to the flour to form a dough

Please don't overwork the dough. You want it crumbly, crunchy and moist, when cooked.

Wrap the dough in a cling film and place it in the fridge for about 45min

On a floured surface, roll your pastry out and cut into 4 squares

or use a bowl for a circular shape.

For the filling;

150g of black pudding sausage

200g of Chorizo sausage

2 finely diced shallots

2 chopped yellow peppers

40g of fresh thyme

2 finely chopped garlic

Remove the sausages from their skin and finely dice the black pudding

Place the sausages, peppers, shallots, yellow peppers, thyme and garlic in a bowl and mix well.

Leave the mixture for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse.

A smoked fish filling

You can cut the rolled pastry into squares or circles (using a medium sized bowl to cut into circles).

Be creative with the filling, use diced potatoes, Kale, Fish, Chicken, Turkey or meat etc (whatever you prefer).

Place a tablespoon of the filling in the middle of each cut pastry. Pick a corner of the pastry and fold to meet the opposite end (as shown below).

Use your thumb or a fork to seal the ends. Use the fork to insert 3 holes on top of each pastry (as shown below). This helps the heat circulate evenly and cooks the filling perfectly.