This recipe requires some pastry skill and I would recommend it for confident home cooks. The pie case is made from hot water pastry and is formed by hand. There are a few stages of chilling required so it is best to make these pies on a relaxing day at home. The only pastry-making equipment you need is a pastry brush (available at Y100 shops if you don’t have one) and a rolling pin to roll the pie lids. But you can form the lids by hand if you do not have a rolling pin.

This old-fashioned style of pastry is extra sturdy so it can support heavy meat fillings. With its quick, stir-together method, it is very simple to make. Hot water crust pastry requires the fat to be ‘hot’ when added, rather than chilled as is needed for most other kinds of pastry.

When I made these pies I used a wooden “dolly” to form a large party-sized pie case. This is the traditional method of making Melton Mowbray pork pies, Britain’s most famous pork pies. I bought my dolly in England, but in this recipe I will show you how to use a standard jam jar. I used some Swan & Lion chutney jars (7cm tall, 6.5cm wide), a most wonderful jar if I may say so myself!

This recipe will make 6 pies using that size jar. If you use larger jars, adjust the way you portion the pastry.

Ingredients:

First make the pastry:

• Add the flour and salt to a large bowl.
• Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan, turn off the heat and add the lard. Mix until dissolved.
• Carefully add the lard/water to the flour and mix with a spoon until it is cool enough to handle.
• Tip the pastry onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute or so until smooth.
• Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 2 hours or more (you can make the pastry the day before).

Next make the filling:

• Cut the chicken and bacon (or ham) into roughly 2cm pieces.
• In a bowl, mix the chicken, bacon and herbs together and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Thinly slice the cucumber pickles length ways.

Now the fun part, hand-raise the pie cases:

• Take the pastry from the fridge, allow it to return to room temperature and divide into 6 parts. From each part, take off one-third and keep to make the lid. The remaining two-thirds will be the base of the pie.
• Rub each jar with vegetable oil and wrap the jar tightly with clingfilm.
• Push the jar down into the pastry until the bottom of the pastry is about 2 to 3mm thick.
• Using flat hands, carefully pull the pastry from the bottom up the sides of the jar. Keep going until you get to just under the top of the jar. Repeat for all the jars.
• Gently roll the jar on its side on your bench. This will smooth the pastry and make it easier to remove the jar.
• Carefully remove each jar and very carefully remove the clingfilm making sure you do not leave any sticking to the pastry.
• Carefully place the pie cases on a tray and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
• With a rolling pin, roll the lid pastry to a round just bigger than the size of the jam jar.

Let’s Make the pies:

• Preheat the oven to 200℃.
• Take the pastry cases from the fridge. If the pastry is not even at the top, trim with a sharp knife so that it is straight.
• Half fill each case with the meat mix, gently pushing it down to fill any gaps.
• Layer slices of pickles on top.
• Fill the case with meat mix to 1cm from the top of the pastry.
• With a pastry brush, paint beaten egg on one side of the lid. Place the lid egg-side down inside the case and squeeze the pastry together with your fingers.
• Brush the pie all over well with beaten egg. Using a chopstick, poke a good sized hole in the pastry lid.
• Put the pies on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
• Remove the tray from the oven, allow the pies to cool a little and reapply beaten egg liberally all over the pies.
• Turn the oven down to 180℃ and bake the pies again for 10 to 15 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.
• Fully cool the pies before serving.

Here’s a video showing a professional from Dickinson & Morris bakery in Melton Mowbray making a pork pie . It might help you with the pastry techniques.