As a boy, I made pork pies in my dad’s butcher’s shop and I can be taken straight back there by the lardy smell of a hot pork pie straight out of the oven.
Pre-heat your oven to 180°c.
Mix the flour and salt in a heat proof bowl. Boil the water and mix the lard with it to dissolve then pour it into the bowl with the flour and salt. Mix it together until it’s cool enough to get stuck in with your hands. At this point, work it together into a ball and let it cool, but not completely. You need it to be slightly warm to work it successfully into shape.
Mix all of your pie ingredients together and make sure that the spices and seasonings are evenly dispersed throughout, you don’t want the tragedy of someone getting a bite full of pepper.
Cut a quarter of the pastry to make a lid and roll out the remainder into a large circle that will fill your pie tin. Carefully lower it into the tin and mold it around the edge, leaving a small overhang. If you have any holes or cracks in the pastry, you should be able to patch them up (remember making models out of clay).
Fill the pie with your meat mixture and pack it down to remove any gaps and air pockets.
Roll out your lid and place on top. Trim and crimp the edges in whatever way you see fit and make a small hole in the top as a vent.
Put your masterpiece into the pre-heated oven and cook for around 90 minutes, checking at intervals. If you want to be certain check with a thermometer. Remove from the tin, glaze with an egg wash and put back into the oven for another 15 minutes.
For the filling
1 kg of minced pork
2.5g of ground mace or nutmeg
2.5g of allspice
2.5g of ground black pepper
a small bunch of sage leaves, depending on how much you like sage, finely chopped
10g of salt
For the hot water pastry
480g strong white bread flour or pastry flour
5g salt
125ml water
180g lard, if you haven’t made your own you can buy it in a packet.
This is for making a traditional pork pie that will have a grey colour to the cooked meat, particularly if you use rare breed pork, but don’t be put off, it’s just the lack of nitrates (which give modern pork pies the pink colour) and much more natural.
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