Yan’s Pwielight Saga Hand-raised Pie

Method

Step 1
Make the pastry. Sift the flour into a large heatproof bowl and make a well in the centre. Melt the lard with the salt in 150ml of water over a low heat, then increase the heat and bring to the boil. Pour the boiling mixture into the flour well and combine. 

Step 2
Once the dough is cool enough to handle, turn it out onto a lightly floured worktop and knead for 2–3 minutes, until very smooth and glossy. Cut off a third, wrap in cling film and set aside. 

Step 3
Working quickly, roll out the remaining pastry on a lightly floured worktop to a neat circle about 3mm thick (the thickness of a £1 coin). Lift the pastry into the cake tin, pressing it evenly over the base and up the sides, leaving an overhang and fixing any tears as you go. Brush with beaten egg, then chill for 1 hour. 

Step 4
Make the sausagemeat filling. Put the minced pork, bacon, pepper, salt, mace, nutmeg and sage into a bowl and mix thoroughly. 

Step 5
Fry 1 teaspoon of the mixture on both sides in a non-stick pan until cooked, then test for seasoning. Add more seasoning to the uncooked mixture, if necessary. Transfer the uncooked mixture to a large piping bag and chill until needed. 

Step 6
Make the black pudding filling. Blitz the black pudding in a food processor to a heavy paste. If the mixture is very crumbly, add 1 teaspoon of hot water until the mixture is pipeable. Transfer to a piping bag and chill until needed. 

Step 7
Make the chicken chorizo filling. Put the diced chicken and chorizo, and the garlic, cornflour, pepper and salt in a food processor and chop to a coarse mince texture. Taste and season as with the sausagemeat. Transfer to a piping bag and chill until needed. 

Step 8
When the pastry is hard, snip off the tip of each piping bag to create a 3cm opening. Starting with the black pudding, then the sausagemeat, then the chicken-chorizo, pipe the fillings into the pie case in concentric circles. Gently flatten the rounded tops of the piped rings with a wet finger.

Step 9
For the next layer, start with the sausagemeat filling for the outer ring, then the chicken–chorizo, then the black pudding at the centre. Flatten as before. 

Step 10
For the final layer, start with the chicken-chorizo for the outer ring, then the black pudding, then the sausagemeat. Flatten as before and bang the tin on the worktop to settle the contents. 

Step 11
Roll out the reserved pastry into a 3mm-thick disc to fit the top of the pie. Brush the rim with beaten egg, place on the lid and press together the two edges to firmly seal.  

Step 12
Using your fingers, mould the pastry so that the rim is 1–1.5cm higher than the lid, then trim the excess. Pinch and crimp the rim neatly. Using a rounded-blade knife, gently ease the pastry rim away from the metal rim of the tin, then chill for 15 minutes. Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4. 

Step 13
Place the pie on a baking tray and release the tin. If it doesn’t release easily, wrap a hot, damp tea towel around the outside of the tin to warm it, then try again – don’t try to cut the pastry free from the sides. 

Step 14
Brush the top and sides of the pie with beaten egg. Cut a 1cm hole in the top of the lid and insert a large heatproof piping nozzle (you’ll use this for the gelatine stock later).  

Step 15
Bake for 30 minutes, then brush the pie again with beaten egg and bake it at 150°C/130°C fan/300°F/Gas 2 for a further 80–90 minutes, until a rich golden brown and a cooking thermometer inserted into the centre reads 75°C/167°F; or a metal skewer inserted for 10 seconds, then removed, feels very hot to touch.  

Step 16
Leave the pie to cool on a wire rack until the pastry feels just warm.

Step 17
Meanwhile, soak the gelatine in water for about 5 minutes, until softened. Squeeze out the excess and dissolve the gelatine in the hot stock until smooth. Leave to cool, stirring occasionally. 

Step 18
Slowly pour about three quarters of the stock into the pie through the nozzle. Stop pouring once liquid is visible through the hole. Carefully remove the funnel. Chill the pie for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight. 

Step 19
Mix the honey into the remaining stock and set aside. 

Step 20
Before serving, make the fruit rosette. Peel the apple, then core, halve and slice it very thinly into half moons, keeping the apple in 2 halves (don’t separate the slices). Microwave for 1 minute to just soften. Leave to cool.

Step 21
Put the peach into a pan of boiling water for 30 seconds then remove, cool slightly and slip off the skin. Halve, remove the stone and cut into thin slices. Cut the figs into neat slices.   

Step 22
To build the rosette, place the fig slices up against the rim of the pie, then carefully fan out slices of apple and peach alternately in a spiral to resemble the petals of a rose. Place a small slice of fig at the centre. 

Step 23
Gently melt the stock and honey mixture and light brush over the rosette to glaze. Serve the pie as soon as possible.