Raised game pie

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This is a rich meat pie recipe from Galton Blackiston that combines a veritable zoo of game meat - rabbit, venison, pheasant and partridge, with added sausage thrown in for good measure. Further impress your guests by carefully and thinly slicing the pie, revealing a cross-section of the spectacular meat filling and flaky pastry.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Pie filling

Hot water crust pastry

  • butter for greasing
  • 500g of plain flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 110g of lard
  • 280ml of water
  • 1 egg, beaten

Equipment

  • 20cm cake tin

Method

1
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas mark 6. Start by making the stock; take the meat off the partridges and the pheasant and reserve the bones
2
Place the bones in a large pot, followed by the carrot, celery, thyme, rosemary, and half of the onion
3
Pour in the white wine and add enough cold water to just cover the bones. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 2 hours, skimming off any impurities that rise to the surface with a ladle
  • 125ml of white wine
4
While the stock is simmering, in another saucepan, add the lard and water and bring to the boil, stirring constantly
  • 110g of lard
  • 280ml of water
5
Sieve the flour in a large bowl and add the salt. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the hot lard and water mixture, mixing together quickly with a wooden spoon to form a dough. Cover with cling film and leave to rest for 20 minutes
  • 500g of plain flour
  • 2 tsp salt
6
Lightly grease a 20cm cake tin and put in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to firm up the butter
7
Carry on with the filling; mix together the sausage meat, the rest of the onion, the crushed garlic, and tarragon in a bowl
8
Roughly chop the game meats: the partridge, pheasant, rabbit and venison, and stir into the mixture, then season well with salt and pepper. Sprinkle over the mace and crushed juniper berries. Mix well and set aside
9
After the dough has been resting for 20 minutes, lightly flour your work surface and roll out two thirds of the dough, reserving the final third for the pie lid. Use the pastry to line the cake tin and spoon the meat mixture evenly into the pie
10
Roll the remaining pastry dough into a piece large enough to cover the cake tin, and cut a circle the size of a £2 coin in the middle
11
Using a pastry brush, lightly coat the edges of the pie with the egg wash and lay the dough lid over the pie. Crimp the edges, and brush a layer of egg wash over the top
12
Place the pie on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 30 minutes, then lower the oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4 and bake for a further 1 hour and 30 minutes, until the top of the pie is golden-brown
13
Remove from the oven and allow to almost cool completely
14
Take the stock off the heat and strain through a sieve. Return to the stove and reduce the stock to approximately half a pint
15
Allow the stock to cool slightly, then pour through the hole in the top of the pie and place in the fridge to set overnight
16
When ready to serve, cut into slices and serve with piccalilli or pickled onions
  • 1 tbsp of piccalilli
First published in 2015

There can't be many Michelin-starred chefs who started out selling homemade cakes, biscuits and preserves on a market stall in Rye in 1979. Yet, the quietly spoken, endearingly eccentric Galton Blackiston isn't like other chefs.

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