Pork pies recipe

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This classic recipe for pork pies is easy to follow and the results are just bursting with picnic flavour.

Classic pork pies
  • Nut-free
  • healthy
Makes6
SkillMedium
Preparation Time30 mins
Cooking Time55 mins
Total Time1 hours 25 mins (plus overnight chilling)
Cost RangeCheap
Nutrition Per PortionRDA
Calories466 Kcal23%
Fat25 g36%

These delicious pork pies are made from scratch and they're one of our favourite summer recipes. 

Pork pies are one of those picnic classics that you might never have thought to try making yourself, but when you taste this ones, you'll change your mind. There are three components: the pie pastry, the porky jelly and the meaty filling, and the whole thing takes less than an hour and a half to make and cook, but we do recommend allowing an overnight for chilling, for best results. They're designed to be portable, so they're brilliant for lunch on the go, but they're also a lovely buffet food ideas, and great for any summer celebration or garden parties.  

Ingredients

  • 500g (1lb) minced pork
  • 2 level tablespoons chopped fresh sage
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the pastry:

  • 300g (10oz) plain flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 medium egg yolk
  • 90g (3oz) white vegetable fat
  • Beaten egg, to glaze

For the jelly:

  • 4 leaves gelatine
  • 1 pork stock cube

WEIGHT CONVERTER

to

Method

  1. Preheat oven to Gas Mark 7 or 200°C.
  2. To make the filling: Mix together the pork, sage and plenty of seasoning.
  3. To make the pastry: Tip the flour into a bowl and add the salt. Drop the egg yolk into the bowl and cover it with a little flour.
  4. Pour 150ml (¼ pint) water into a saucepan and add the white vegetable fat. Place pan over a low heat and stir until fat melts. Increase heat until mixture is boiling, taking care in case any of the fat spits out of the pan. Working quickly, pour the boiling mixture into the flour, and use a wooden spoon to beat the mixture until it's smooth.
  5. Knead the pastry very lightly until it forms a ball. Cut off about a third of the pastry and wrap it in a freezer bag. Reserve for making the lids.
  6. Divide remaining pastry into 6 pieces, flatten each piece out and use them to line the holes in the muffin tins, stretching pastry to just above the top of the tins.
  7. Divide the filling into 6 and place a portion into each muffin hole. Divide the reserved pastry into 6 and flatten each out into a circle just larger than the top of the pies, to make lids. Brush a little egg around the top edge of the pastry in the tins, then place the lids on top. Press the edges together well, and flute them. Make a large hole in the centre of each pie, then brush egg glaze over the top.
  8. Bake the pies in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to Gas Mark 4 or 180°C and cook for a further 20 minutes. Remove the pies carefully from the muffin tin and place them on a baking tray. Brush the top and sides with egg glaze, then return them to the oven for a further 10-15 minutes or until the pastry is golden. Remove from the oven and transfer the pies to a wire rack to cool. Chill the pies well, preferably overnight.
  9. To make the jelly: Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water until they are soft (the amount of water for this isn't important). Pour 450ml (¾ pint) boiling water over the stock cube, and stir until the cube has dissolved. Lift out the sponged gelatine and squeeze out any excess water, then add to the stock, and stir it until it dissolves. Leave the stock to cool but not set, and pour it into the pies. Return the pies to the fridge and leave for the gelatine to set.

Top tip for making these pork pies

Hot water-crust pastry breaks all the usual rules of pastry-making, as normally all the ingredients have to be kept as cool as possible. The hot method produces a firmer and less crumbly pastry. Make sure there aren't any holes in the pastry or the stock will seep out. Chilling the pies really well helps the gelatine in the stock to set quickly.

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Octavia Lillywhite
Food and Lifestyle Writer

Octavia Lillywhite is an award-winning food and lifestyle journalist with over 15 years of experience. With a passion for creating beautiful, tasty family meals that don’t use hundreds of ingredients or anything you have to source from obscure websites, she’s a champion of local and seasonal foods, using up leftovers and composting, which, she maintains, is probably the most important thing we all can do to protect the environment.