Pork pies

Serves 6 Starters and mains

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Method

To make the filling, cut the pork shoulder, belly and bacon into 1cm chunks and mix well.

Place two-thirds of the meat in a food processor and pulse until minced – you may need to do this in batches. Mix the chopped and minced meat together then weigh and divide the meat evenly between 2 bowls. Add the apple, chestnuts, sage, thyme, mace, cayenne and mustard powder to one bowl, season really well and mix to combine.

Remove the cooking chorizo from its skin, break the meat into little pieces and add to the second bowl along with the garlic, parsley, lemon zest and fennel seeds. Season well with salt and pepper and mix to combine. Cover both bowls of meat with cling film and chill until needed.

To make the hot-water crust pastry, mix the flours, sugar and a pinch salt in a large bowl and season with black pepper. Make a well in the middle. Place the lard, butter and 200ml water in a small pan and set over a medium heat. Allow the lard and butter to melt in the water and bring to the boil.

Roughly mix three-quarters of the beaten egg into the flour, add the hot-water mixture and, working quickly, mix the dough together until smooth. Cover with a clean tea towel and set aside for 20 minutes until the dough is cool enough to handle.

Lightly dust the work surface with flour. Weigh the hot-water crust pastry and divide in half. Cover one piece and set aside. Take the other piece and cut it into two pieces, one piece twice the size of the other. Roll the larger piece out to a thickness of around 5mm and use to line one of the cake tins, making sure that the pastry evenly covers the base and sides of the tin with no cracks or holes; it should just overhang the top of the tin. Carefully pack the apple-seasoned meat into the pastry case, mounding it up slightly in the middle. Roll the remaining pastry into an 18cm circle for the lid. Brush the edges of the pastry with water and lay the lid on top, pressing the edges together to seal. Cut off the excess pastry and decoratively crimp the edges of the pie between your fingers. Roll out the pastry trimmings to make leaves to decorate the top of the pie. Brush the top of the pie with some of the remaining beaten egg, arrange the pastry leaves on top and brush with egg again. Push a wooden skewer through the pastry lid to make a neat hole in the top of the pie and place on a baking sheet.

Make the second pie in the same way with the remaining dough and chorizo-flavoured filling.

Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F/Gas 4. Bake the pies for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 170C/325F/Gas 3 and continue to cook for a further 1 hour 15 minutes, glazing the top of each pie again with beaten egg after 45 minutes, until the pies are a deep golden colour and the filling cooked through. Remove the pies from the oven and leave to rest for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, if adding jelly, pour the stock intoa small pan, bring to the boil and reduce to 250-300ml. Soak the gelatine in a bowl of cold water for a few minutes, then drain and add to the hot stock. Stir to melt and then set aside to cool for 15 minutes. Using a small funnel or plain piping nozzle, pour the warm stock slowly, a little at a time, into each pie through the steam hole in the lid to fill the gaps left by the cooked meat, tilting the pie from side to side to help the stock soak in. Leave to cool then chill overnight. Serve with your choice of condiments – mustard and pickles are a good choice.