Louth chef presents his latest delicious recipe - Homemade pork pie

So how do you make them from scratch I hear you say, here is a full breakdown of what you need to do.

Ingredients you’ll need: 400g of John Pettit’s pork shoulder, 100g of unsmoked bacon rashers, with rinds removed. Two tablespoons of sage leaves, chopped ½ anchovies, chopped, ¼ teaspoon of all spice.

Then ¼ teaspoon of ground mace. A pinch of salt and black pepper.

To make the pastry you will need: 300g plain flour, pinch of salt. Then you’ll need one medium Scaman’s egg yolk. Plus you will need 90g of white vegetable fat.

Also one full Scaman’s egg that needs to be beaten. To make the jelly, you will need four gelatine leaves, one pork (or chicken if not available) stock cube.

Cooking instructions: First of all, pre-heat the oven to 200ºc.

To make the filling, mix together the pork, bacon, sage, anchovies, spices and seasonings in a bowl and leave to one side. For the pastry, place the flour into a bowl and add a pinch of salt.

Place the egg yolk in to the middle of the bowl and cover with some of the flour. Pour 150ml water into a sauce pan and add the vegetable fat. Place over a low heat and stir until the fat melts. Increase the heat until the liquid is boiling, before carefully pouring into the flour mixture and beat with a wooden spoon.

Once the pastry has cooled slightly, knead until it forms a ball. Wrap a third of the pastry in cling film and place to one side, as this will be used for the lids.

Divide the remaining pastry into six pieces and flatten each one individually with the palm of your hand or a rolling pin.

Line the holes of a muffin tin with each of the rounds, stretching the pastry so it comes just above the line of the tin. Divide the filling into six and place into the centre of each muffin hole.

Divide the remaining pastry into six pieces and flatten out to fit the tops of each of the pies. Place the lids on top and press the edges together, fluting them.

Make a large hole in the centre of each pie and glaze the six tops with the egg.

Bake for 20 minutes, before reducing the temperature to 180ºc and cook for a further 20-minutes. Remove the pies from the muffin tin and place onto a baking tray.

Glaze the top and sides with the remaining egg wash and place back into the oven for a further 10-15 minutes until the pastry is golden.

Once cooked, remove the pies from the oven and chill for at least two hours, or overnight. To make the jelly, soak the gelatine leaves in cold water until they’ve softened.

Pour 450ml boiling water over the stock cube, and stir until dissolved. Remove the gelatine from the water, squeezing out any excess liquid and add to the stock. Stir until the gelatine has dissolved and leave to cool. Pour the gelatine into the pies, using the holes created in their lids. Place in the fridge until set. Serve with chutney or piccalilli.

Top tip for making the pork pies: Hot water-crust pastry might break a few rules when it comes to making pastry, but it’s much less crumbly and will hold the meat in place. It’s so important to make sure there are no holes in the pastry as the jelly and stock will leak out.