Jamie Olivers Easy Pork Pies Food

JAMIE OLIVER'S EASY PORK PIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. In a pan, heat some olive oil and sweat the onions. After 3 minutes, add the thyme, cook for 2-3 minutes, or till soft and sweet, then take off the heat.
• Put the lard into a saucepan with 250ml water and a teaspoon of salt,and bring it to the boil. Meanwhile, sift the flour into a bowl, then make a well in the middle. Pour in lard mixture and mix until it forms a dough. Leave till it's cool enough to handle but still warm.
• Divide dough into 2 or 4 equal balls. Take a quarter of each ball and wrap in clingfilm. Roll out the bigger bits of pastry until you have circles to line your ramekins, with a little over. Gently tuck pastry circles into each ramekin, making sure you push it into the bottom of the ramekin so there are no air pockets. Trim the pastry so it just hangs over the top edge,
• Pop the sausages out of their skins and mix the meat with the cooled onions, allspice and a good grating of nutmeg, then season well with salt and pepper. Divide between ramekins, pressing right down to make sure that they're well filled.
• Roll out the reserved pastry to be just larger than the ramekin tops. Brush the pastry around the top of a ramekin with beaten egg then place a pastry circle on top. Press down around the edges to seal, then trim off any excess, use your finger and thumb to pinch the pastry together and crimp it into little waves. Use a small knife to cut 1cm-diameter circles in the middle of each top - it's easiest to turn the ramekin and keep the knife still.
• 6Cook for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a little, then loosen around the edges with a knife. Covering your hands with tea towels, carefully ease the pies from the dishes, put back on the tray and brush with beaten egg. Put back into the oven, covering the tops with foil if you don't want them to get too brown. After 20 minutes, your pies should be done. Cool completely before serving.

PORK PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
• For the filling, place half of the pork shoulder and bacon into a food processor and pulse to a coarse mince.
• Combine with the rest of the pork, bacon, sage, rosemary, nutmeg, allspice and anchovy essence (or 1-2 fresh salted anchovies, finely chopped, or two teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce), and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• For the pastry, sift the flour and salt and freshly ground black pepper into a bowl and set aside.
• In a pan, heat the milk, water and lard together and gradually bring to a simmer, or until all the lard has melted.
• Bring the milk mixture up the boil and then pour this onto the flour mixture. Mix well with a wooden spoon to create a firm dough.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead the dough quickly for a few minutes.
• Roll the dough out flat, then press the dough into a pork pie tin, saving a quarter of the dough for the lid.
• Spoon the meat mixture into the pastry-lined pork pie tin.
• Roll out the remaining quarter of pastry so that it's slightly larger than the tin all round.
• Brush the beaten egg yolk all over the pastry lid, then place the pastry on top of the meat mixture and press down the edges to seal.
• Cut a small hole in the top of the pastry and transfer into the oven for 45 minutes to one hour, or until the pastry is golden-brown and the meat is completely cooked through.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin.
• To serve, turn the pie out of the tin and slice.

MINI PORK PIES

Steps:

• Mix the filling ingredients and season. Grease 12 holes of a muffin tin and line each with a strip of baking parchment, to make pies easier to remove from tins.
• To make pastry, bring the lard and 250ml water to the boil in a small pan. Sieve the flour into a food processor and add 2 tsp salt. While processor is on, pour in lard and water mix, then blend until you have a smooth dough. Turn out into a bowl and remove two-thirds, covering the final third with a tea towel to keep warm.
• Roll larger piece out on a floured surface to about 2-3mm thick - work quickly as the dough is easier to work with when warm. Cut out 12 x 11cm circles using a pastry cutter. Line each hole of the tin with the circles, pushing them in with your fingers and leaving a slight overhang.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and put in a baking tray. Divide filling between pastry cases, pushing down lightly. Roll out remaining pastry on a floured surface and stamp out 12 x 8cm circles. Brush edges of filled cases with egg, then put lids on top. Pinch together and crimp the edges with your fingers. Brush with beaten egg and set aside the rest for later.
• Bake in oven for 30 mins, then remove the tin and tray, and gently take the pies out of the holes. Brush the sides and top again with egg and place directly onto the baking tray. Turn oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and cook for 25-30 mins until the sides are set and tops a deep golden colour. Remove and cool on a wire rack.