Picnic pies recipe
Crisp, hot-water pastry cases filled with chicken, apricots and pistachio nuts, these little pies are perfect for a family picnic. You need to work quickly with this pastry, as when it cools it begins to crack.
You will need: 6-hole muffin tray; 7cm (3 inch) round cutter
Recipe from The Great British Bake Off: Get Baking for Friends and Family. Out now, published by Sphere, £20.00. Photography by Susanna Blåvar.
Ingredients
For the pastry- 70 g lard
- 175 g plain flour
- 75 g strong white bread flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 50 g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
- 200 g turkey thigh mince
- 200 g chicken breast, diced
- 75 g dried apricots, chopped
- 2 tbsp pistachio kernels
- 1 tsp salt
- 0.5 tsp ground white pepper
- 0.5 tsp ground mace
- 3 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 chicken stock cube
- 100 ml boiling water
- 1 gelatine leaf
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
Details
- Cuisine: British
- Recipe Type: Pie
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation Time: 0 mins
- Cooking Time: 0 mins
- Serves: 6
Step-by-step
- Heat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/375°F/gas mark 5.
- First, make the pastry. Melt the lard in a small pan with 100ml (3.3 floz) of water over a medium heat. Stir, then heat until the water just begins to boil, about 5–8 minutes. Remove from the heat.
- Working quickly, in a bowl mix the flours and salt together. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Make a well in the centre and pour in the hot lard liquid (don’t wash the pan). Use a wooden spoon to mix to a soft pastry.
- Tip out the dough onto a lightly dusted worktop and knead gently until the pastry is smooth and glossy. Cut off a third of the pastry, pop it into the hot pan you used for the lard and cover with cling film. This helps to keep it warm while you roll out the bases.
- Divide the remaining pastry into 6 equal pieces and roll each into a 9cm (3.5 inches) circle. Use these to line the muffin tray. Remove the warm pastry from the pan. Roll it out to a rough circle 4mm (0.1 inch) thick, and stamp out lids using the 7cm (3 inch) cutter. Re-roll the trimmings as necessary.
- To make the filling, mix together the shallots, turkey, chicken, apricots, pistachios, salt, pepper, mace and parsley in a bowl. Divide the filling equally between the pastry cases in the muffin tray, piling it up to a well-filled mound, and brush the edge of each case with beaten egg. Top each with a pastry lid and press the edges to seal. Trim away any excess.
- Make a small slit in the top of each pie and brush with beaten egg. Bake for 35–40 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and golden.
- Dissolve the stock cube in the boiling water. Soak the gelatine sheet in a little water. Once the gelatine is soft, squeeze out any excess, then add to the hot stock. Pour a little stock into the hole in the top of each pie. Leave to cool, then place in the fridge for at least 2 hours to set.
This recipe is from The Great British Bake Off: Get Baking for Friends and Family. Out now, published by Sphere, £20.00. Photography by Susanna Blåvar.
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