Well well well, who would have thought Mr. Slick would have put a beautiful braised, melting in your mouth, lamb & pea pie in his new pie cabinet? Maybe a little of Mr. Slack still lingers inside - but I'll tell you what, these pies are absolutely phenomenal.
I'll add the photos soon but here's the guts of how to make yourself one (or 25 for that matter) tasty damn pie at your place, right now, for your slice of comfort and bliss or to share with others. It's been hard to put a price on something that turns out so delightful - I almost feel like a criminal for letting them go for only $4.90. In fact, my boss actually called me a criminal for doing so - in his lovely Turkish accent he said that the lamb pie, Mr. Slick, is frickin good aye.
Ingredients:
- 2kg Lamb Shoulder (Boneless)
- Animal Fat / Lard or Canola Oil
- Celery, Carrots, Onions & Thyme for Confit
- 200g Peas
- 1 Bunch Spinach
- 6Tblsp Beef Stock
- 1.5ltrs Water
- Salt + Pepper
- 2.5 Cups Cornflour
- 3kg Short-crust Pastry
- 2kg Feather Flake Pastry
The lamb-shoulder usually comes in butchers netting which is perfect. I usually just cut the shoulder through the middle and place it in a deep dish roasting tray. Add the diced celery, carrots, onions & thyme. Cover with animal fat. Cover tray with tinfoil and confit (roast in oven) for 3 hours on 150 degrees. Once done, remove from oven and check that lamb is tender. Remove and drain off excess fat.
Allow the lamb to cool before removing any netting and dicing the lamb into large cubes / rustic chunks.
In a pot add the water and beefstock and bring to boil. Check taste, adjust accordingly. Thicken with cornflour to produce the gravy and check consistency. It should be quite thick and coat a spoon very well however still be pourable, just. Poor the gravy over the diced lamb and add the peas and diced spinach. Mixed through and continue to cook out the mixture on a medium heat until the spinach is wilted. Adjust seasoning to taste and set mixture aside to cool.
Take the short pastry and roll out, flouring gently and as required. Try not to work the pastry too much when rolling it out. Take round cutouts appropriate to the size of your pie dish - test the first one and make sure its going to be big enough. Put the pastry in the chiller to firm and rest. Repeat the process in rolling out the feather flake pastry for the tops of the pies and allow those to rest and chill as well. This mixture above will make around 25-30 really good sized pies.
When the pastry has rested and the mixture is completely cool, you may assemble your pies. I would point out a few really simple but crucial things to achieving success here:
1. Make sure your pastry bottoms go right up to the sides of the pie tray, all the way around and that they even slightly exceed the height of the tin, just slightly. You don't want to create an opportunity for your filling to seep down the sides of your pastry, making it soggy.
2. Don't overfill your pies, you wont do them justice in doing so. I fill mine so that the filling is just under level with the bottom of the pastry.
3. Put all your lids on with care and crimp around the sides with your fingers, and complete the process with a fork if you like the crimped look - I do, it looks homely and people appreciate that. More importantly just be firm with the pastry and really press the top and bottom together.
4. When putting your feather flake pastry tops on the pies just wet your hand with water and wet one side of the pastry that is going to face down in the pie. Wetting the pastry aids in sticking the two pastries together whilst crimping.
Once you have assembled your pies, prick them with a fork 2 or 3 times to allow steam to escape when the interior of your pie gets hot in the oven. Brush them with a beaten egg and decorate with your selection of toppings. I lightly sprinkle this lamb pie with poppy seeds - how about black sesame, or even some dried oregano?
Bake at 190 for 25 minutes or until they are golden brown. At that time, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool before turning them out onto a rack. The pastry remains quite brittle until the pies cool down so use gentle hands. Be careful not to leave them in the pie tins, in my experience it will be more difficult to remove them from a cold tin rather than a hot one!
Enjoy them, they really are a winter treat!
Confit is the same process as braising. To immerse an item in it's own rendered fat and to cook in a covered tray for a long period & at a low temperature to achieve a moist, tender and beautiful result
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