Spiced Pork Pie with Cranberries

Ingredients

For the filling

• 1 large onion, finely grated
• knob of butter, melted
• 75g (2½ oz) fresh white breadcrumbs
• 125g (4½ oz) smoked streaky bacon, finely chopped
• 340g (11¾ oz) sausagemeat with black pepper and nutmeg
• 1½ garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 60g (2¼ oz) dried cranberries, roughly chopped
• 3 chicken stock cubes (Jane used OXO), crumbled
• 1½ tsp dried thyme
• ½ – 1 tsp allspice
• ½ unwaxed lemon, zest only
• 1 chicken breast, skin removed and cut into 1cm/½in-thick slices
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the pastry

• 200g (7 oz) lard
• 575g/1lb (4½ oz) plain flour
• 1½ tsp salt
• oil or lard, for greasing
• 1 free-range egg, beaten for egg wash
• fresh bay leaves, to decorate

Instructions

1. 1
   Grease a 900g (2lb loaf) tin with oil or lard and line with baking paper.
2. 2
   For the filling, tip all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl apart from the chicken. Mix together using your hands until well incorporated. Season generously with salt and pepper. Take a teaspoon of the mixture and fry until cooked. Taste to check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper if necessary.
3. 3
   For the pastry, put 200ml (7fl oz) water and the lard in a saucepan. Heat until the lard is melted, then bring to the boil.
4. 4
   Put the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl, pour in the melted lard mixture and stir well to combine using a wooden spoon. When cool enough to handle, knead in the bowl to form a smooth dough. Set aside a quarter of the dough and wrap in cling film.
5. 5
   Preheat the oven to 375F.
6. 6
   On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the remaining dough to about 1cm/½in thick. Use this to line the loaf tin, making sure that any tears or gaps in the pastry are filled. Roll out the reserved pastry to make the pie lid.
7. 7
   Fill the tin with alternating layers of the sausagemeat mixture and chicken slices. Cover with the lid and pinch the edges to seal. Cut off any excess pastry and make a hole in the middle of the lid using a sharp knife.
8. 8
   Brush the top of the pie with egg wash and bake for 1 hour 15–20 minutes. The pies are cooked when the centre of the meat filling reaches 165F on a meat thermometer and the pastry is deep, golden-brown. Leave to cool completely in the tin.