This recipe for spicy mutton pie was taken from the book Great British Food by Cass Titcombe, Dominic Lake and Patrick Clayton-Malone, which has been published by Ebury Press for £16.99.
INGREDIENTS(Serves six)
- 2tbs sunflower oil
- 1 medium onion, cut into 1cm dice
- 150g carrots, cut into 1cm dice
- 100g fennel, cut into 1cm dice
- 2tsp curry powder
- 1tsp mustard seeds
- ½tsp cayenne pepper
- 1tsp ground ginger
- 1tsp ground coriander
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1kg boned leg of mutton, cut into 2-3cm dice
- 400g chopped tomatoes
- 30g treacle
- 250ml meat stock
- 1 heaped tbs tomato purée
- 150g potatoes, peeled and diced
- Salt
- 700g puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten
INGREDIENTS
Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan and sweat the onion, carrots and fennel for about 15 minutes or until soft but not brown. Add all the spices and the garlic. Stir well. Cook for five minutes.
Add the mutton together with the tomatoes, treacle, stock, tomato pureé and some salt. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer gently for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.
Add the potatoes and cook for a further 30 minutes or until the meat is tender but not falling apart. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.
Preheat the oven to 170ºC. Butter the inside of a 28-30cm oval pie dish that is at least 8cm deep. Roll out the pastry on a well-floured board to a thickness of 3mm. Cut out an oval piece of pastry to line the dish. The pastry needs to be long and wide enough to cover the bottom and sides of the dish, with some extra for overhang.
Place in the dish, leaving the edges hanging over the sides. Brush the overhang with a little beaten egg.
Fill with the cold pie filling. Cut a piece of pastry for the lid - this should be slightly larger than the dish - and lay it over the filling. Dip your fingers in flour and pinch the edges of the lid to the edges of the pastry lining the dish, to seal them together. Trim off excess pastry with a knife.
Cut three or four 1cm slits in the lid, to allow steam to escape during baking. Brush the lid with beaten egg to glaze. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbling around the edges and through the slits in the lid. Serve hot with mash, gravy and greens or boiled potatoes and other vegetables or salad.