Pork & ham pie
By Gordon Ramsay
Cooking time
Prep: 1 hr, 15 mins Cook: 1 hr, 30 mins Plus cooling timeSkill level
For the keen cookServings
Cuts into 8 slicesGordon's delicious pork pie recipe is perfect for a buffet, picnic or grown-up lunch box
Nutrition and extra info
Nutrition per slice
- kcalories
- 559
- protein
- 28g
- carbs
- 47g
- fat
- 30g
- saturates
- 11g
- fibre
- 2g
- sugar
- 2g
- salt
- 1.15g
Ingredients
- 6 eggs
- 400g minced pork
- 200g good-quality pork sausagemeat
- 140g cooked ham meat (see know-how), chopped into small chunks
- small handful sage leaves
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- few shakes Tabasco sauce
- 2 leaves gelatine (optional, see Know-how)
For the pastry
- 100g lard, plus extra for greasing
- 450g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 4 tbsp milk
- 1 egg, beaten
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Method
- Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, then boil the eggs for exactly 7½ mins. Cool in cold water, peel and set aside. Tip the pork, sausagemeat, ham, sage and onion into a large bowl. Season generously and add a few shakes of Tabasco. Mix well with your hands until completely combined. Take about 1 tbsp of the mix, shape into a small burger and fry in a pan. Taste for seasoning. Slightly over-seasoned is perfect.
- Melt a few tbsps lard, brush a 1-litre terrine dish with an even layer of the melted fat, then dust with flour. To make the pastry, tip the flour into a bowl with 2 tsp salt. Put the lard and milk into a pan with 150ml water, then heat until the lard has completely melted. Pour into the flour and beat with a wooden spoon until combined. Tip onto the surface and knead until it all comes together.
- Cut a piece of baking parchment to fit the bottom and long sides of the terrine dish with some hanging over the edge. Take about two-thirds of the pastry dough and shape it into a rectangle roughly the width and length of the dish. Lay the dough into the terrine and, using your fingers, press it into the bottom, the corners and up the sides of the dish until it comes to the top and hangs over the rim a little.
- Take half the meat mixture and pat it into a shape that will fit the terrine dish, then lay it in. Use your fingers to make a trench down the middle of the meat. Trim the tops and bottoms off the eggs, lay them, in a row, along the trench, then season. Trimming the eggs like this ensures that each slice of pie will contain both egg white and yolk.
- Take the rest of the meat mixture, pat it out to a rectangle that will fit over the eggs, and press it over the top. Brush the overhang of the pastry with the beaten egg, then roll out the rest of the pastry to fit over the pie.
- Pinch edges together to fix the top. Brush top generously with egg and pierce three holes along the top. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Place pie on a baking sheet and bake for 30 mins. Lower the heat to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4, then continue to cook for another hour. Leave to cool. Carefully turn dish upside-down onto a board and use the sides of the paper to pull the pie out of the dish. If sides aren’t brown enough, return it to the oven on a baking tray at 200C/fan 180C/gas 6 until coloured. Cool, then chill in the fridge.
- If you want to fill the pie with jelly, soak the gelatine in cold water and warm the stock until hot, but not simmering. Remove the gelatine from the water and squeeze to remove excess liquid, then stir into the stock to dissolve. Leave to cool to room temperature, then transfer to a squeezy bottle. Pour the jelly into one of the holes until it comes to the top. Place the pie on a dish in the fridge until the jelly has set, then repeat twice more, so the jelly has filled each hole. Leave to set in the fridge overnight.
Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2007
Comments, questions and tips
Comments
Made this and it was fab! I read the comments first and researched a few other celebrity chef recipes. Tips I picked up: The pastry is much easier to work with if you keep it warm., Wrapped the pastry for the lid in clingfilm and kept in a 50 degree oven until I needed it. For the jelly, use 100ml of chicken stock, made with a third of a stock cube.
Well using suet for the shortening because I can't buy lard here worked perfectly. In fact my sister who has made this pie before reckons the pastry was an improvement on the original recipe and more like pork pie pastry. It was also easy getting it out of the tin. I just covered it lightly with tin foil during baking to prevent burning. I used 300ml of stock and added X3 gelatine leaves. I used 100 ml for each of three applications of jelly, just reheating gently each time when it set! Will definitely make this again.
Absolutely delicious recipe very simple to make and the ingredients measures are perfect virtually no waste
Just a small warning, mr Ramsey suggests making a small sample burger to check the seasoning, be strong and only test as needed I ended up yes ting about six because the mix is so delicious
Can any one tell me if the finished pie is freezable?
I have made this a couple of times at Xmas and new year and everyone really enjoys it. My only problem is getting the pie out without damaging the crust.
I have previously made in a 2lb loaf tin but this year have promised myself a terrine tin in case this is the root of my problem. Can anyone recommend a good one the right size for this pie?
Hi Deanrey, sounds like we are both thrifty cooks lol!
Great question about the egg ends; I pondered over this when I made my first ham & egg pie. I have made this recipe many times and have used the ends in various ways. Here are just a few examples to wet your appetite: They are great tossed in to a crisp green salad, Sprinkled into various soups (smoked haddock, chicken noodle, leek and potato) or simply mixed with some mayonnaise and paprika and spread into a nice ham sandwich. Hope that was of some help and happy cooking.x
Living in Italy the food here is amazing however we do miss the simple pleasures of Leicestershire . One of them the pork pie so I have made this every Christmas since it was published it reminds me of home and served with the sweet chilli chutney is amazing .
I never have time to get the jelly in the pie because the aroma is so mouth watering the family have to eat it immediately
I love pies and quiches since they are great when our friends come home for dinner. In general, I like to replace the standard baked ham with some jamon iberico de bellota - aka iberico ham or patanegra-. It is true that it is more expensive but the taste of the dish really improves making it way more refined.
I buy my iberico ham at Buyjamon.com
<a href="http://BuyJamon.com/">
BuyJamon.com the market place for iberico ham.</a>
I love pies and quiches since they are great when our friends come home for dinner. In general, I like to replace the standard baked ham with some jamon iberico de bellota - aka iberico ham or patanegra-. It is true that it is more expensive but the taste of the dish really improves making it way more refined.
I buy my iberico ham at Buyjamon.com
<a href="http://BuyJamon.com/">
BuyJamon.com the market place for iberico ham.</a>