Everyone loves a good wholesome pie! It’s a great, hearty winter warmer and it’ll use up all those leftover bits of meat from Christmas!
You’ll need:
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 large carrots, sliced
- 2 large leeks, sliced into 2cm/¾in pieces, washed
- 200ml/7fl oz double cream
- 200ml/7fl oz chicken or turkey stock
- 500g/1lb 2oz cooked turkey, cut into bite-size pieces
- 200g/7oz cooked ham, cut into bite-size pieces
- 10 button mushrooms
- pinch cayenne pepper
- 2 tbsp chopped tarragon
- thymeleaves
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 225g/8oz frozen puff pastry, defrosted
- 1 free-range egg, beaten
- 2 tbsp parmesan, finely grated
Fire up your wood fired oven as per usual. Bring the oven up to maximum temperature, ensuring the oven is saturated with heat (the more heat ‘invested’ in the oven, the longer your baking phase will be.) Let the oven temperature gradually cool to baking temperature, for this recipe around 200° C. Sweep all the embers out and place the door in the doorway. For more detail see our Cooking Techniques guide.
Add a knob of butter to a large pan and gently cook the onion until soft but not brown. Add the carrots and leek and continue cooking for five minutes until the carrots begin to soften. Cover with the cream and stock and simmer until the sauce starts to thicken. Add the turkey, ham, mushrooms, cayenne and herbs then season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and remove the pan from the heat.
Pour the filling into a ceramic pie dish. Roll out the pastry to make a lid for the pie and strips to line the rim of the dish. Press the strips onto the rim, moistening them with a little water, then press down the lid firmly and brush with the beaten egg. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and cook in your wood fired oven for 20 minutes until the pastry is golden-brown.