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    Pork, chicken & apricot pie

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    Pork, chicken & apricot pie

    By Martha Collison

    • Preparation time: 30 minutes + overnight chilling
    • Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes
    • Total time: 2 hours + overnight chilling

    Serves: 10

    Ingredients

    454g pack essential Waitrose British Pork Sausagemeat
    6 rashers back bacon, chopped
    1 tsp ground mace
    100g lard
    10g salt
    250g strong plain flour
    200g plain flour
    350g pack essential Waitrose British Chicken Mini Breast Fillets
    200g ready-to-eat dried apricots
    1 medium Waitrose British Blacktail Free Range Egg, beaten
    3 leaves gelatine
    1 chicken stock cube
     

    Method

    1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4 and line a 900g loaf tin with a long strip of baking parchment so the pie is easier to remove later.

    2. In a large bowl, combine the sausagemeat, bacon and ground mace, then season well with salt and pepper.

    3. Place the lard and salt into a small pan with 250ml water and heat on medium until the water is boiling and the fat has melted. Meanwhile, weigh the flours into a large bowl. Pour the boiling mixture into the flour and stir until a dough comes together. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for a few minutes until the dough is smooth. You will need to move quickly here, because as the dough cools it becomes more difficult to work with.

    4. Take two-thirds of the dough and roll it out on a floured surface to a large rectangle. If you place the tin in the centre, there should be enough pastry to come all the way up the tin’s sides. Use your fingers to mould the pastry into the tin, pressing it right into the corners. If any gaps form, or the pastry looks too thin, take a small ball of excess dough to patch it up. Allow the pastry at the top to overhang at this point.

    5. Press half of the sausagemeat mixture into the bottom of the pastry case. Arrange the mini chicken fillets in an even layer over the top, pressing them down firmly to make sure there are no air gaps. Top with the dried apricots in an even layer, followed by the remaining sausagemeat mixture. The loaf tin should be filled to the top.

    6. Roll out the remaining pastry into a rectangle roughly the same size as the tin, and lay it on the top. Use your fingers to crimp the lid onto the pie, making sure you get a really good seal. Use a sharp knife to trim any excess pastry from the edges and use the handle of a wooden spoon to make a hole right in the middle of the lid to allow steam to escape.

    7. Brush the top of the pie with beaten egg and bake in the centre of the oven for 1½ hours, or until the pie is golden brown and crisp. If the pastry starts to colour too much, cover it with tin foil and continue to bake so the inside is properly cooked.

    8. Allow the pie to cool in the tin for around 10 minutes, then carefully lift it out using the strip of baking parchment to help. Move the pie onto a wire rack to cool completely.

    9. To make the jelly, soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 minutes. Dissolve the stock cube in 200ml boiling water in a small jug, and then stir in the softened gelatine leaves. When they have fully dissolved, slowly and carefully pour the jelly into the hole in the top of the pie. When it is full to the top, refrigerate the pie for a couple of hours (preferably overnight) until completely chilled and set. 

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