Meat Pie

By corlear

Tourte de Viande

The recipe that follows is useful for leftover beef from a pot-au-feu. Harvest cooks ovten mix it with cold roast beef and/or pork, for example. If they lack meat they top it up with sausagemeat which French butchers make with pure pork, fat and lean, ready minced. Families have their own favourite ways to do them; the following are just a guide.

A green salad would go well with this dish.

Ingredients

• FOR THE SHORTCRUST PASTRY:
• 8 oz plain flor
• 1 pinch of salt
• 4 oz butter at room temperature
• small glass of cold water
• 1 egg yolk to glaze
• FOR THE FILLING:
• 4 oz green streaky bacon in a piece
• 1 oz butter
• 1 medium to large onion
• 4 oz sausagemeat
• 8 oz boiled beef (or other leftovers)
• a handful of fresh parsley
• salt
• black pepper
• FOR THE BECHAMEL SAUCE:
• 1 oz butter
• 1 oz plain flour
• salt
• pepper
• 8 fl oz milk
• nutmeg, optional

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

To make the pastry, mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Rub the butter into the flow with your fingertips, until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add a little cold water to make a supple dough. Form into a ball and leave in the bowl with a cloth over it to rest for an hour.

To make the filling, remove the rind from the piece of bacon. Cut the bacon in dice to make lardons. Put the butter into a large frying pan and let the bacon cook gently, melting the fat. With a slotted spoon remove the lardons and keep on one side. Peel and chop the onion. Fry it in the bacon fat and butter until it is golden, then and the sausagemeat. Mince, or if you prefer chop, the leftover meat and the lardons. Finely chop the parsley. Add these three ingredients to the frying pan. Mix together and stir as the mixture browns. Season with salt and pepper.

For the thick Béchamel, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour, stirring to incorporate it. Gradually add the milk. stirring and letting the mixture thicken as you go. Season with salt and pepper. (Some might like a little grated nutmeg. Take the mixture of meats off the heat and mix with the Béchamel.

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4, 350°F, 180°C.

Roll out the pastry, keeping back a third of it for the lid. Butter an 8 in pie plat or tart tin. Line it with the pastry pressing it into the sides and letting it overlap the edges a little. Prick the bottom with a fork. Let it "seize" in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes.

Fill the pie with the prepared mixture of meats and sauce. Have the pastry lid ready rolled out and cut to size. Cut out a small circle in the centre. Wet edges of the pastry in the tin. Place the lid on top and pinch the pastry edges together.

Roll up a small piece of greaseproof paper to form a chimney and insert into the hole in the middle (this stops the underside of the pastry getting soggy from steam). If you feel artistic, cut shapes in any leftover pastry and stick them on with a little water. Whisk a teaspoon of cold water into the egg yolk and brush the lid with it.

Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, until the top is golden.