Pork and kumara pie with hot water pastry

It's not always easy choosing picnic food that will travel well and taste good cold but a pie always goes down well with a hungry crowd. Hot water pastry is fun to make — warm, pliable and easy to work with. It's what you'll find in the traditional English Melton Mowbray pork pie, which is baked without a supporting tin.

This pork and kumara version, which uses the same pastry, can be eaten hot or cold.

Filling

2 Tbsp	Oil
2	Onions, sliced
2 cloves	Garlic, crushed
1 tsp	Thyme, dried
1 kg	Pork shoulder, or leg, cut into 2cm cubes (Main)
1 large	Kumara, cut into cubes (Main)
1 Tbsp	Wholegrain mustard
500 ml	Chicken stock
1 Tbsp	Cornflour, mixed with 2 Tbsp water
2 handfuls	Spinach

Pastry

120 g	Butter
¾ cup	Water, hot
2 ¼ cups	Flour
1 tsp	Salt
1	Egg

Directions

1. Heat oil to medium hot in a large pot. Add onion and garlic, cooking until softened. Add the thyme and pork. Stir until the pork is slightly coloured. Add mustard and stock. Bring to a simmer for 30 minutes then add cubed kumara and continue to cook for 30 minutes or until the pork is tender. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Stir through cornflour mix to thicken the sauce. Remove from heat and cool completely before filling your pie case.
3. To make pastry, use a small pot to melt the butter in the water.
4. Place flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the egg, then pour in hot butter. Mix with a knife to form a soft warm dough. Knead on a lightly floured bench until smooth and elastic.
5. Remove a third of the dough. Roll the remainder large enough to fit your tin allowing for some overhang. Line the tin. On baking paper, roll remaining third to fit on the top of the pie. Place all the dough in the fridge for 1 hour to harden.
6. Heat oven to 180C.
7. Remove pastry from the fridge. Fill with pork filling. Place spinach on top. Brush edges with water, then fit the top on. Using a fork, stick the edges down. Brush the top with egg yolk and bake for 50 minutes or until golden.
8. Remove and cool completely before serving. Delicious with home-made chutney and salad.