Pork and cider is the Jagger and Richards of the pie world, a classic combo that will rock your taste buds
Who doesn’t love a good pie, with lots of gravy and a few greens? We switch our pies regularly at The Pig; in fact, sometimes the fillings change day by day, as it all depends on what we get from the local suppliers. All the veg for this pie should be diced to roughly the same size so they’ll cook evenly. Our pork and cider pie is the Jagger and Richards of the pie world – a classic combo that will rock your taste buds for years to come.
Makes 4 individual pies
600g diced pork
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
80g butter
80g flour, plus extra for dusting
200ml medium/dry local cider or scrumpy
500g chicken stock
2 celery sticks, peeled and diced
2 onions, peeled and diced
2 leeks, slit open lengthways, washed and sliced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 thyme sprigs
2 rosemary sprigs
2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard
1 pack shortcrust pastry pie pastry
1 egg beaten
salt and pepper
Method
1 Preheat the oven to 160°C/ 140°C fan/gas mark 3. You’ll need an ovenproof casserole dish with a lid to braise the meat. Season the diced pork with salt. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the diced pork and seal until golden brown.
2 In the casserole dish, melt the butter, then add the flour and cook for 2 minutes. De-glaze the pan with the cider. Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. You just want to thicken it up and cook out the flour. Add the pork and prepped veg, garlic, herbs, mustard and seasoning to the sauce. Stir gently to combine, then cover with a lid – if you don’t have one, use a double layer of foil. Cook in the oven for three hours until the pork is tender, then spoon into four individual pie dishes, leaving a 1cm space at the top of each dish. Turn the oven up to 200° C/180°C fan/ gas mark 6.
3 On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to 5mm thickness and cut four pastry tops out, around 1cm larger than each pie dish. With a pastry brush, coat the rim of each dish with the beaten egg. Gently lift the pastry over the pie mixture, pressing down around the edges to seal it. Any spare pastry can be used for decoration. We, of course, do pigs! Once the pie lids are on, make a small hole in the middle of each one to let the steam out, brush with the beaten egg. Then return to the oven for 25 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and cooked through. Serve with boiled new potatoes, roasties or chunky chips and braised cabbage.
All recipes taken from The Pig: Tales and Recipes from the Kitchen Garden and beyond published by Mitchell Beazley £25. Buy online from thepighotel.com/the-pig-book or swing by The Pig on the Beach at Studland or any of their other Pigs. The Pig Hotels are welcoming back outdoor diners from 14 April, book online at thepighotel.com
