English Fidget Pie

This is my recipe for a traditional pie served in the midlands in England. The filling is savoury (onions, apples, ham and potato) its delicious hot or cold.

Ingredients

20cm diameter x 6cm deep spring loaded cake tin.

1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and cubed (1cm cubes).

1 large brown onion, diced.

1 medium size potato peeled and diced

(King Edward/Maris Piper variety are perfect).

300g bacon/ham or gammon, I used big chunks of ham which most good butchers sell as off cuts.

1 tsp dried or fresh sage.

1 tsp Dijon mustard.

50g butter.

150ml dry cider, (alternatively use beef or vegetable stock).

3 tsps of full cream to thicken the sauce (alternatively use a tsp of cornflour).

Shortcrust pastry buy or to make: 300g plain flour, 150g butter, pinch salt, 100-150ml iced cold water.

Method

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.

To make the pastry:

Cube the butter and add to a food processor along with the flour and salt. Blend for 25 seconds until a breadcrumb texture.

Pour the mix into a bowl, form a well in the middle and pour in about 1/3 of the water and gently mix with your fingers.

Keep adding the water until the mix begins to stick together.

Form a rough ball with your fingers, wrap in glad wrap and refrigerate for 20 mins.

Remove from the fridge and roll out on a floured surface with a rolling pin until it is about ½ cm thick.

Line the cake tin (don't forget to grease the tin first) with the pastry. Trim the excess from the edges. Lay baking parchment in the tin on top of the pastry and fill with baking beans to weight it down.

Blind bake for 12 minutes, remove the baking beans and parchment and bake for a further 5 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Roll out the excess pastry you trimmed off to make a lid for the pie.

Melt the 50g of butter in a frying pan and fry the onions and potato over a medium heat for 5 mins.

Add the ham, fry until sealed and golden brown at the edges.

Add the apple and fry for a further two minutes.

Remove the potato, onion, ham and apple form the pan and set aside.

Deglaze the pan with the cider, reduce for 5 minutes then add the sage and mustard, reduce for a further three minutes.

Stir in the cream or cornflour to thicken the sauce.

Add the apples, onion, potato and ham to the sauce and stir.

Pour the pie filling into the pastry case. Add the lid and brush with milk or glaze with a beaten egg. If you want to minimise the pastry, use mash potato instead of pastry for a pie top.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Serve hot with mushy peas or cold for a picnic with apple and rhubarb chutney.

For further information and more great recipes check out humble crumble: http://www.humblecrumble.com/pork-recipes/fidgetpie/