Pork and Apple Pie

A request was made by a certain sister (let her be known Ms Lauderee Macaroon even though she has never eaten one) to make 'pie' for her homecoming. I provided the pastry and we collaborated on the filling. Savoury pies are not something we were brought up with and still consider to be a culinary treat- as we should! I really like this recipe, the cider and orange adding lovely tones to the sauce underneath the pastry. We used pork fillet instead of the boneless leg and reduced the cooking time of the filling to 1 hour before putting on the lid.

Take from the Great British Bake Off Cook
800g boneless leg of pork diced
2 tbsp plain flour
2-4 tbsp veg oil
2 medium onions thinly sliced
3 celery sticks sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopping
400ml dry cider
finely grated zest of 1 orange
3 eating apples peeled and thickly sliced.
1 quantity of rough puff pastry in the previous post.

For the filling
1. Preheat the oven to 170oC. Put the pork into a bowl, sprinkle with flour and a little pepper and salt and toss to coat. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large casserole dish. Working in batches, add the pork and quickly brown, adding more oil as needed. As each batch is browned, remove from the pan to a large plate.

2. Add the onions, celery and garlic and cook gently for 10 minutes until golden. Add the cider, bring to the boil and return the pork to the pot with the orange zest and apples. Stir and add a little salt and plenty of black pepper. Transfer to the oven and cook for 2-2.5 hours until the meat is very tender.

3. Take the pot out of the oven, adjust seasoning if needed and reduce to the thick gravy over the hob if it looks a bit watery. Leave to cool in a large 1.25-1.5L pie dish.

4. Roll the pastry out around 7cm larger than the pie dish. Cut off a strip from around the oval, around 1cm wide and long enough to fit all around the rim of the dish. Dampen the rim with water and press the strip of pastry onto it, joining the ends neatly. Roll the oval around the rolling pin and lay gently over the pie dish. Make a slit in the pastry with a sharp knife to let the steam out. I use the back of a fork to press around the edges of the pastry which seals it and stops the sauce bubbling out over the edges.

5. Chill the heat while preheating the oven to 200oC. Brush with beaten egg and bake for 15 minutes then reduce temperature to 180oC and bake for a further 20-25 minutes or until crisp and golden. Serve hot with potatoes and veg of choice.