Without repeating myself too much (see Suet Shortcrust Pastry intro) this recipe was developed on a very late Christmas night. Facing lots of leftovers in front of me I decided to make a pie. Now it's up to you as to what you throw into the pie which is why I haven't given quantities, however this is what I could recommend.
Firstly, a layer of stuffing so that you have a cushion between the pie case and the rest of your fillings. Secondly, a generous spread of cranberry jelly. If you're making a pie with lamb then you could use mint sauce, if it's beef or chicken then a dijonnaise etc. you get the point. Thirdly, your meat. Now given I made this with leftovers from Christmas dinner, I didn't want to just chuck turkey in as it will be dry, so I always make sure I break the meat up over a bowl and cover it with some thick gravy. Not too much that its swimming in it, but enough that it's coated. I don't add anything else other than these 3 layers, but ultimately it's for you to decide.
In the case of the large pie I got the idea of cooking it in a cake tin from my friend's mum. It hadn't occurred to me before to do this but it makes utter sense and makes life easy!
As for the individual pies, these are more of a challenge and so you have been warned! Granted if you have 4 individual mini spring-form tins then you have nothing to worry about, but I don't so I had to make my own make-shift cases using foil. So as Mary Berry would say, they are 'rustic'. Yes they are a little fiddly to make but provided you don't make any holes in the cases, they won't leak, and provided you fill them with ample leftovers, they won't collapse. Whilst you can make 4 pies from the recipe I've written, I would think you could share one pie between 2 people, so they will go a long way.
Leftover Pie
Makes 1
Hands-on Time 10 minutes
Baking Time 50 minutes
Ingredients
Plain flour for dusting
Leftovers
1 Egg, medium
Equipment
Sharp knife
Rolling pin
20cm Spring-form tin
Small bowl
Fork
Pastry brush
Preheat your oven to 190°C/170°C (Fan)/375°F/Gas mark 5.
Using a sharp knife cut one quarter go the dough off and set aside, this will become your top.
Roll the remaining dough out into a large sheet no less than 5 millimetres thick. Flour every now and then to avoid it sticking. The key thing here isn’t so much the thickness, provided it’s not too thin, but that you have enough pastry to be able to line the tin with.
Place the tin in the centre of the sheet. You need to make sure you have enough excess for the sides of the tin.
Lift the dough into the tin and gently press it into the bottom edge. Leave any overhang where it is for now.
Fill your pie with your leftovers.
Roll the piece of dough you left for the top out. You want a circle the same size as the tin.
Place the top on top of your pie filling.
Trim off any excess dough.
Taking your index finger and middle finger. Keeping them together, put them on the inside edge of the pastry lip, so your fingers are pointing outwards. Using your other index finger press it in-between your index and middle finger, pushing the dough as you do this motion. Move your index and middle fingers around one position and repeat these steps until you’ve done a whole lap of the pastry.
Beat the egg in a small bowl using a fork.
Brush the beaten egg over the top of the pie.
Decorate the pie with any leftover pastry if you wish, make sure you brush these pieces with beaten egg as well.
Use a sharp knife and cut a cross or diamond into the middle of the pie lid so you can create a little vent.
Put the tin into the oven on a middle shelf and bake for 50 minutes.
Remove the pie from the oven when it’s nice and golden.
Leave the pie to sit for 15 minutes before removing the sides of the tin.
Enjoy!
Leftover Pies
(see warning in intro)
Makes 4
Hands-on Time 20 minutes
Baking Time 55 minutes
Ingredients
675g Plain flour
1 1/2 tsp Fine salt
75g Shredded suet
225g Unsalted butter (cubed and chilled)
190ml Water
2 Eggs, medium
Plain flour for dusting
Leftovers
1 Egg, medium
Equipment
Scissors
Baking parchment
Foil
Pyrex jug or similar 10cm wide glass jar (outside washed and dried)
Baking sheet
Sharp knife
Rolling pin
Small bowl
Fork
Pastry brush
Preheat your oven to 190°C/170°C (Fan)/375°F/Gas mark 5.
Using scissors, cut 4 strips of baking parchment, about 5 cm wide and long enough to wrap around the jug/jar.
Cut 8 strips of foil which are the same width and length as the parchment.
Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment.
Cut one quarter go the dough off and set aside, this will become your tops.
Divide the remaining dough into 4. Roll the one piece of dough out into into a large circle no less than 5 millimetres thick. Flour every now and then to avoid it sticking. The key thing here isn’t so much the thickness, provided it’s not too thin, but that you have enough pastry to make a decent enough pie with.
Now with the fiddly bit.
Turn the jug or jar upside down.
Dust the dough with flour and place it over the bottom of the jug/jar.
Shape the dough. Don’t press it too much otherwise it will stick to the sides of the jug/jar. You’re looking to get an outline for the bottom of your pie. Where the dough overlaps itself around the sides, fold it over and press it down, this will help you with the next step.
Flip the jug/jar over so you can remove it. Hopefully some of the dough will be standing up, if not then you need to make it. Lift a piece of the dough up and make a pleat by overlapping it with a piece next to it. Press them together using your fingers. Repeat the pleating until you have gone around the outside of the pie. At this point hopefully you should have something standing up.
Take a piece of baking parchment and gently wrap it around the outside of the pie. Take a piece of foil and wrap it around the parchment. Use the ends of the foil to create a clamp as it were. Roll them up towards the pie so they tighten the foil up as you get closer to the case. Repeat again with a second piece of foil.
Carefully lift the pie case onto the lined baking sheet.
Repeat these steps with the other 3 pieces of dough.
Once you have your cases made, fill them using your leftovers, make sure you press everything up to the sides of the cases as they will provide support and structure.
Roll the dough you left for the tops out and cut into 4 circles.
Place these discs onto the filled pies.
Carefully pinch the edges of the tops and pie case together.
Beat the egg in a small bowl using a fork.
Brush the beaten egg over the top of the pies.
Decorate the pie with any leftover pastry if you wish, make sure you brush these pieces with beaten egg as well.
Use a sharp knife and cut a cross or diamond into the middle of the pie lids so you can create a little vent.
Pop the baking sheet into the oven on a middle shelf for 50 minutes.
When the time is up remove the baking sheet form the oven and carefully remove the foil and parchment form around the outside of the pies.
Pop the pies back into the oven for a further 5 minutes to crisp up the sides a little.
Enjoy!
