Picnic pies
The inclement weather in much of the UK has put a bit of a dampener on National Picnic Week. However, our blogger Victoria Glass is an 'incurable optimist' and recounts her love of picnics starting from her student days. She kindly shares two recipes for delicious pies that can be packed up quickly and eaten on the move, if the rain stops your picnic.
Ingredients
Hot water crust pastry
- 450g of plain flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp of icing sugar, (this won't make it sweet, it just increases the richness)
- 1 egg , beaten
- 200ml of water
- 80g of butter
- 80g of lard
For the stuffing
- 1 onion , finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves , crushed
- 1 apple , cored and grated (no need to peel)
- 1 handful of prunes , pitted, chopped
- rosemary , chopped
- 1 dash of brandy
- 2 tbsp of breadcrumbs
- salt
- black pepper
For the filling
- 400g of sausage meat
- rosemary , chopped
- thyme , chopped
- nutmeg
- salt
- black pepper
- piccalilli
Method
1
For the hot water crust pastry, combine the flour, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Create a dip in the middle, add the egg to it and sprinkle a decent quantity of flour over the top
2
Add the water, lard and butter to a pan and gradually bring to the boil over a medium heat. When the mixture is boiling, mix the liquid into the flour, using a knife to stir. Knead the dough until smooth and consistent in colour
3
Use straight away without resting, or it will become very hard and difficult to work with
4
Now make the pastry cases - these will make smaller, mini pies, but if you like you can use bigger glasses to create 4 larger pies. Split the pastry in half and wrap one half in cling film - keep this in the fridge for later, as it will form the lids for the pastry cases
5
Grease 8 small, straight-sided glasses or jars with a little oil. Divide the pastry into 8 and roll out each piece to 1/4 inch thickness
6
Place the pastry sheets over the top of each glass and smooth down until it reaches 2 1/2 inches down the sides of the glasses. Cut out 8 strips of parchment and wrap around each pastry case, securing in place with string. Place in the fridge to firm for approximately half an hour
7
To make the stuffing, simply soften the onion, apple and garlic in a generous knob of butter until translucent, then bung in the prunes, rosemary and seasoning and stir for a couple of minutes. Chuck in the brandy and let the alcohol burn off before adding the breadcrumbs
8
Stir it through so the breadcrumbs start to swell, taste for seasoning and decant into a cold bowl to cool
9
Preheat oven to 180°C/gas mark 4
10
Simply squidge all the pie filling ingredients together. Slide your pie cases off their glasses and pop them on a baking tray. Fill your cases up to a third full with sausage meat – really squish it down to compress it. Then add a layer of stuffing, followed by another layer of sausage meat
11
Press your finger into the top layer to make a shallow well and add a small spoonful of picallilli to each pie
12
Remove the remaining pastry from the cling film and roll out to the same thickness as the cases. Cut out 8 rounds for the lids
13
Lightly wet the edges of the pies, and place a lid on top of each pie, crimping to seal the edges with your fingers. Brush some egg yolk over each pie to glaze and make a small cut in the middle of each pie to let the steam escape
14
Bake for 40 minutes until golden and cooked through, then allow to cool before eating
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Picnic pies
