Maybe it’s my Northern Yorkshire roots, but I do love a good pork pie.

Not the type with pink, plastic pork, but a pie made with real meat. Although a keen baker, it’s something I’ve never made.

That is, until I saw a Tom Kerridge recipe for hand-raised mini pork pies.

The picture looked so good, I decided to try his pies with, I’m proud to admit, such spectacular success I wanted to share it with you.

The recipe wasn’t difficult but because there are various chilling and resting stages, you need to have a couple of hours to spare.

I’ve simplified the recipe - Tom advocated mincing pork shoulder and pork belly whereas I used supermarket mince.  The pastry is a delight to handle and you can’t go wrong with it.

Strangely the recipe makes 9 mini pies – perhaps this is so can taste one and still leave a nice even number!

Ingredients – for the filling
80g streaky bacon, minced in a food processor
315g minced pork
20g fresh bread crumbs
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried thyme
¼ tsp each of salt, ground black pepper, white pepper, nutmeg and cayenne
9 silverskin pickled onions
Ingredients – for the pastry
50g lard, chopped into small cubes
50g butter, chopped into small cubes
100ml cold water
275g plain four
1 beaten egg
3 egg yolks (to glaze)

Method:

Mix together all the filling ingredients except the pickled onions and chill the mixture for an hour.
Dry the pickled onions on kitchen paper.

Put the lard, butter and water into a small pan and melt over a gentle heat.

Sift the four into a bowl and mix in the beaten egg, followed by the warmed lard/butter/water.
Mix until smooth and cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Divide the chilled filling into 9 balls and insert a pickled onion into the middle of each ball (Scotch egg style).

Divide the pastry into 9 balls and roll out into a circle large enough to take the mince ball and allow you to draw up the sides to form a money-bag shape.  Turn over and press slightly down.

Using finger and thumb create a lid by crimping the pastry on the top of the pie.

Put the pies onto a baking sheet and brush with the egg yolk.

Leave to chill for two hours.

Brush with egg for a second time, make a small hole in the centre with a sharp knife.
Bake at 190°C/Fan 170°C/gas 5 for 25 minutes until golden brown.