Game pie
- Preparation and cooking time
- Total time
- + cooling and chilling
- A little effort
- Serves 8
Ingredients
- 1 egg, beaten with a splash of milk to glaze
- 2 leaves gelatine
- 200ml game stock or chicken stock
- to serve piccalilli or Cumberland sauce
hot water pastry
- 100g lard, diced
- 100g diced butter
- 550g plain flour
- 2 eggs, beaten
filling mix
- 500g mixed game or partridge, pheasant, hare or venison, diced
- 125g pork belly, minced or use good quality pork mince
- 125g unsmoked streaky bacon, diced
- 10 leaves sage, chopped
- ½ tsp cracked black pepper
- ½ tsp ground white pepper
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp crushed juniper berries
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
Method
- STEP 1
Make the hot water pastry by melting the lard, butter and 200ml water together. Mix the warm liquid, 1½ tsp salt and the eggs into the flour and beat until a dough forms.
Wrap in clingfilm and leave in the fridge for 1 hour. - STEP 2
Put all the pie filling ingredients with ½ tsp salt in a big bowl. Mix together.
- STEP 3
Heat the oven to 180c/fan 160c/gas 4. Take the pastry from the fridge, cut ⅓ off and keep to one side. Roll the remaining ⅔ out into a circle, about 5mm thick.
Line an 18cm cake tin with the pastry then fill it with the pie mix. Roll the remaining ⅔ of pastry out into a circle and put on top of the pie, crimping the edges together.
Cut a small hole into the top of the pie to release any steam and put on a baking tray in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. - STEP 4
Remove from the oven and glaze the top with the beaten egg and milk mix then return to the oven and cook for a further 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool. - STEP 5
To make the jelly, soak the gelatine in water until floppy. Heat the stock in a small pan then add the squeezed out gelatine leaves and stir until melted.
Pour the jelly into the pie. Chill overnight then remove from the cake tin and serve.