Best Pork Pies Recipes

SAVORY PORK, APPLE AND SAGE PIES

Steps:

• To make dough: In a food processor, pulse together the flour and the salt. Add butter and lard or shortening, and pulse until mixture forms coarse crumbs.
• Add ice water, 2 tablespoons at a time, pulsing briefly between additions, until mixture just comes together; it should not be wet. Form dough into eight equal balls; tightly wrap each ball in plastic wrap, flatten into a disk and refrigerate while you prepare filling.
• To prepare filling: Combine wine and currants in a small bowl and set aside. In a large skillet, heat oil. Add onion and garlic, and cook, stirring, until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high; add apple and cook until slightly softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; cook 1 minute more. Add currants and wine, and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until liquid has evaporated, about 30 seconds. Let mixture cool slightly.
• In a large bowl, mix pork with remaining salt and pepper. Stir in the apple mixture, pine nuts and sage.
• Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll one ball into a 6-inch round. Mound 1/8 of the filling on half the dough. Fold other half over filling and crimp edges to seal. Transfer pocket to baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
• Cut several slits into top of each pastry. Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling, 40 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes before serving.

MINI PORK PIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. In a small saucepan, mix cornstarch and broth until blended; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat. , In a large skillet, cook pork, garlic and seasonings over medium heat 6-8 minutes or until pork is no longer pink, breaking up pork into crumbles; drain. Add broth mixture; cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Cool slightly., Unroll each pie crust. On a work surface, roll each into a 12-in. circle. Using floured round cookie cutters, cut twenty 4-in. circles and twenty 2-3/4-in. circles, rerolling scraps as needed. Place large circles in ungreased muffin cups, pressing crust on bottoms and up sides., Fill each with 3 tablespoons pork mixture. Place small circles over filling; press edges with a fork to seal. In a small bowl, whisk egg and milk; brush over tops. Cuts slits in crust., Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Carefully remove pies to wire racks. Serve warm. Freeze option: Freeze cooled pies in freezer containers. To use, partially thaw pies in refrigerator overnight. Reheat on ungreased baking sheets in a preheated 350° oven 14-17 minutes or until heated through.

MINI PORK PIES

Steps:

• Mix the filling ingredients and season. Grease 12 holes of a muffin tin and line each with a strip of baking parchment, to make pies easier to remove from tins.
• To make pastry, bring the lard and 250ml water to the boil in a small pan. Sieve the flour into a food processor and add 2 tsp salt. While processor is on, pour in lard and water mix, then blend until you have a smooth dough. Turn out into a bowl and remove two-thirds, covering the final third with a tea towel to keep warm.
• Roll larger piece out on a floured surface to about 2-3mm thick - work quickly as the dough is easier to work with when warm. Cut out 12 x 11cm circles using a pastry cutter. Line each hole of the tin with the circles, pushing them in with your fingers and leaving a slight overhang.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and put in a baking tray. Divide filling between pastry cases, pushing down lightly. Roll out remaining pastry on a floured surface and stamp out 12 x 8cm circles. Brush edges of filled cases with egg, then put lids on top. Pinch together and crimp the edges with your fingers. Brush with beaten egg and set aside the rest for later.
• Bake in oven for 30 mins, then remove the tin and tray, and gently take the pies out of the holes. Brush the sides and top again with egg and place directly onto the baking tray. Turn oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and cook for 25-30 mins until the sides are set and tops a deep golden colour. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

CAPE BRETON 'PORK' PIES

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Tart shells: Sift together flour and 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar in a bowl. Cut in 1 cup butter; knead until well blended. Form dough into 3/4 inch balls. Press evenly into 1 1/2 inch tart cups on the bottom and up the sides to form a shell.
• Bake in preheated oven until pale gold, about 16 minutes. Let shells cool in the pan. Gently loosen and remove them from pan using a knife.
• Filling: Combine dates, water, brown sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil; boil gently for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Mash dates with a fork as they cook. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Allow mixture to cool before spooning into tart shells.
• Icing: Cream 1/4 cup butter in a small bowl with an electric mixer. Gradually add 1 cup of the sugar while continuing to mix. Add the milk, remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar, and maple extract. Beat at high speed until smooth. Icing should be thick enough to pipe. Spoon mixture into pastry bag with a small round or star-shaped tip. Pipe a swirl of icing on each tart.

MINI PORK PIES WITH PICCALILLI

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line each hole of a 12-hole muffin tin with a thin strip of baking parchment across the middle that's long enough so the ends stick out a centimetre or two - use a dab of butter to stick in place. Roll out two thirds of the pastry on a lightly floured surface and stamp out 12 x 10cm circles (you may need to re-roll trimmings). Press a circle into each hole to line.
• Sprinkle 1 tsp of breadcrumbs into the base of each pie. Tip the rest of the crumbs into a mixing bowl. Squeeze in the sausage meat, discarding the skins, along with the bacon, mace, pepper, sage and just a little salt. Get your hands in and mash and squish everything together until the breadcrumbs have just about disappeared. Divide mixture between the holes, packing in firmly and shaping to a dome in the middle.
• Roll out the remaining pastry and stamp out 12 x 7cm circles. Brush with a little egg and add a top to each pie, egg-side down to stick, carefully pressing pastry edges together to seal. Brush with more egg (don't throw away leftovers) and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 30 mins until golden then carefully remove the pies from the tin, using the parchment ends to help you lift them out. Sit on a parchment lined baking tray, brush all round the sides with more egg and put back in the oven for 8 mins. Cool completely then eat with piccalilli, or your favourite pickle.

CUPCAKE-TIN PORK PIES

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
• 2. Grease two 6-cup muffin tins with butter.
• 3. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients but the dough and 1 tablespoon of the eggs; refrigerate.
• 4. Unroll the dough and cut out twelve 4-inch circles with a biscuit cutter or the rim of a drinking glass.
• 5. Reroll the scraps, then cut out 12 more 2-inch circles.
• 6. Line the bottoms and sides of the tins with the 4-inch rounds.
• 7. Divide the filling evenly among the cups. Press the 2-inch rounds on top, pinching the edges together to seal.
• 8. Poke a hole in the center of each pie.
• 9. Brush with the reserved egg and bake until the tops are browned and puffed slightly, 30 to 35 minutes.
• 10. Let cool for 15 minutes before removing the pies. Serve warm.

MARTHA'S PERFECT PORK PIES

Steps:

• For Pork Filling: In a dutch oven or soup pot, Boil together 1/4 cup water, 2 lbs. pork,{ break it up } 1/2 cup chopped onion,1/2 teaspoons pepper,1 teaspoons salt,2 teaspoons allspice, 1 teaspoons nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves.
• Boil together till pork is cooked { no longer pink} & water is absorbed.
• ADD COOLED MASHED POTATOES. MIX TOGETHER.
• While pork is cooking, MAKE CRUST: Mix flour & salt together.
• Blend in Crisco with a pastry blender or a fork. {I use a fork}.
• Blend till crumbly {pea size}.
• Mix in ICE COLD water till dough forms.
• Cut in half evenly.
• ROLL out each piece on a WELL FLOURED surface.
• Place one crust in a 9" pie pan.
• Fill with 1/2 of pork mixture.
• Place other crust on top of filled pie.
• Pinch edges all the way around to seal crust.
• Brush egg wash on top of crust.
• BAKE 400* about 30 minutes or till golden brown.

PORK PIES

Steps:

• For the filling: Mix together the bacon, pork shoulder, Worcestershire, mustard, fish sauce, salt, nutmeg and some pepper in a bowl. Divide into 4 even portions. Wrap each portion in 1 or 2 slices of prosciutto, then wrap in plastic and refrigerate.
• For the hot-water crust: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Place the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Make a well in the center of the flour. Set aside.
• Add the milk, water and lard to a saucepan; heat until warm and the lard has melted. Pour into the flour well and work the mixture with a wooden spoon until uniformly moistened. Transfer to a clean work surface and knead until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Wrap the dough in plastic and set aside to rest for 4 or 5 minutes. (Do not allow the dough to cool any further: as it cools, it sets and becomes hard to handle.)
• While the dough is still warm and pliable, divide it into 4 pieces. Pinch off a scant quarter of the dough from each piece and set aside. Form the larger portions into balls, then press into 5- to 6-inch disks. Using a small jar wrapped in plastic wrap, press the dough so that it reaches halfway up the jar, forming a "cup." Place the chilled, prosciutto-wrapped filling in the cups. Press the reserved smaller pieces of dough into disks and place on top of the filling, pinching the bottom crust and "lid" together at the edges. Make a hole in the middle of the lid with a chopstick or the handle of a wooden spoon. Brush the top of each pie with egg wash.
• Bake the pies for 20 minutes and then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F; bake for about 40 minutes more.

PORK PIES

Steps:

• Make filling:
• Cook pork with onion, garlic, savory, salt, allspice, and pepper in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat, stirring frequently and breaking up lumps with a fork, until pork is no longer pink, 5 to 7 minutes. Sprinkle with flour and cook, stirring, until thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Cool filling completely.
• Make pastry while filling cools:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Blend in shortening and butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add milk and stir with a fork just until a dough forms. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead 10 to 12 times. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a rough 18-inch round (1/8 inch thick), dusting with just enough additional flour to keep dough from sticking. Cut out 24 rounds with 3-inch cutter and 24 leaves with leaf-shaped cutter. Make decorative lines on leaves with tip of a sharp paring knife.
• Fit each round into a muffin cup and fill with a rounded tablespoon of filling. Arrange leaves on filling.
• Bake pies until crusts are golden, 15 to 17 minutes. Lift pies out of muffin cups and transfer to a rack. Cool to warm, about 15 minutes.
• *Available at Sweet Celebrations (800-328-6722).

PORK, APRICOT & PISTACHIO PIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line 6 holes of a muffin tin with strips of baking parchment (these will help you to lift out the pies once cooked). Set aside a quarter of the pastry and roll out the remaining pastry on a floured surface to the thickness of a 20p coin. Cut out 6 x 8cm circles and use to line the muffin tin holes, leaving a little overhanging the top edge.
• Put the pork in a bowl, add the remaining ingredients, except the egg, and season. Mix by hand until combined, then pack the meat firmly into the cases.
• Roll out the remaining pastry to the same thickness. Cut into 0.5cm strips and create a lattice pattern on top of the pies. Trim off any excess. Brush the inside edge of each pie with egg, then roll up the overhanging pastry (from step 1) to stick the layers together. Can be covered with cling film and chilled for up to 2 days.
• Brush pies with egg and bake for 45 mins until golden. Cool and eat with pickle.