American pie is a sweet tradition — apple, pumpkin, chocolate. But in Britain, pie is baked up savory — pork, duck, chicken, pigeon, sausage, pork.
And how. Meat pie is packed right to the ridges — no slick sauce or crisp carrot distraction. Heated, plunked on a pool of mashed potatoes and doused with mushy peas — that’s a meal that means it.
Even the exterior is larded with lard. Hot-water crust upends everything the American pastry chef practices and preaches: cold butter, cold counter, light touch. In northern Britain, the baker starts by boiling water and lard, then grabs a wooden spoon. The result is a pie brawny enough to heft its load of pork products and tasty enough to lift the winter gloom.
Pork Pie
Prep: 45 minutes. Bake: 1 hour. Makes: One deep 8-inch pie, serves 8
• Pastry:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
5 tablespoons lard (or substitute vegetable shortening)
1/3 cup boiling water, plus more as needed
1 egg
1 teaspoon cream or milk
• Filling:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces dried apricots, thinly sliced
1/2 pound fresh chorizo sausage, casings removed
1/2 pound fresh bratwurst sausage, casings removed
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
Whisk: To make pastry, whisk together both types of flour and the salt in a large bowl. Drop in butter and rub to crumbs. Stir together lard and boiling water until melted; drizzle over flour and stir with a wooden spoon until dough comes together. (If dry, add a little more hot water.) Shape into two disks, one with two-thirds of the dough, one with the remainder. Wrap and chill.
