I have adapted this recipe for Mini Pork Pies from one on Paul Hollywood´s website. The filling tasted great, but I didn´t feel like there was enough pastry. So here is my revised recipe for Mini Pork Pies with some helpful tips and tricks for you!
Perfect for Picnics and Lunch Boxes
These mini pork pies are great for taking on a picnic, or preparing at the weekend to pack into your lunch box for the upcoming week. They keep well in the fridge for a few days but are also freezer friendly. Just take them out of the freezer and leave to defrost in the fridge overnight and they´ll be good to go in the morning!
I love eating them for lunch alongside a big fresh green salad. If you think salads are a boring lunch option, check out my post on 7 Ways to Spice Up Your Salad and see if I can change your mind!
How do you make these Mini Pork Pies
HOT WATER CRUST PASTRY. I am telling you, this is the most underrated type of pastry out there! It´s so easy to make, it´s perfect for making pies, and, most importantly, it tastes AMAZING!
For this recipe, to make sure there is plenty of pastry to make 12 individual pies, I use one and a half times the amounts that I would use in my basic hot water crust pastry recipe.
For tips and a step-by-step picture guide, check out my Baking Basics #6 – How to Make Hot Water Crust Pastry!
The filling is pretty much the same as in the original recipe and is made with a mix of pork, bacon and parsley.
Tips for Success
Okay, so here are a few tips for success – things I have learned from making this recipe!
The first suggestion, which I have now changed in my version of the recipe below was that I didn´t think that there was enough hot water crust pastry. So, I have changed that from the original and given you better quantities below by adapting my own basic hot water crust pastry recipe.
My other tip would be to try and use only tiny amounts of egg when assembling the pork pies, preventing too much from dribbling down the sides of the pastry. Because that will burn during the baking and leave black “burnt bits” on the sides of your pastry (still tastes great though).
Also, when it comes to filling the pies with the stock mixture – go slowly and avoid spillage! Add a tiny bit of liquid, watch it disappear into the pie, then pour in a little more until it reaches the top of the hole and stays there. You don´t actually need that much liquid per pie! This is crucial, because if it starts running down the sides of the pastry cases, the pastry will go soggy and the pies will fall apart when you try to remove them from the moulds (that happened with my first few pies, when I didn´t know what I was doing and added far too much liquid far too quickly).
More Picnic Ideas and Lunch Box Fillers
Try some of my other picnic or lunch box recipes:
Homemade Sausage Rolls
Parma Ham and Parmesan Palmiers
Coronation Chicken Sandwich Filler
Colourful Quinoa Salad
Mini Pork Pies
Recipe
Ingredients
FOR THE HOT WATER CRUST PASTRY:
- 300g plain (all-purpose) flour
- 60g strong white flour (bread flour)
- 75g unsalted butter (can be vegan/dairy-free), cold and cut into small chunks
- 90g lard or solid white vegetable fat
- 1.5 tsp fine sea salt
- 150ml boiling water
FOR THE FILLING:
- 1 large white onion
- 380g of pork loin
- 100g unsmoked bacon
- Large handful of fresh parsley
- Salt and pepper, to season
TO ASSEMBLE AND FINISH:
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 sheets of leaf gelatine
- 300ml of boiling water
- ½ chicken stock cube
YOU WILL ALSO NEED:
- 12-hole muffin/cupcake tin
- Rolling pin
- 6-7cm and 11-12cm round pastry cutters
- a measuring jug
Method
- Start by finely chopping the onion, pork, bacon and parsley into very small pieces. Mix together in a bowl and generously season with salt and pepper. To check the seasoning of the mix, you can fry a small amount of mixture in a frying pan and taste. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Then cover and refrigerate the mix until needed.
- Next, make the hot water crust pastry. First, mix the two flours in a bowl and rub in the butter. Gently heat the water, lard and salt in a small saucepan until melted and then heat until just below boiling point.
- Pour the hot liquid onto the flour and mix with a wooden spoon until it comes together into a nice ball of dough. Tip it onto a floured work surface and gently knead it until smooth (careful, as it might still be hot. If it´s still too hot to handle, wait a few minutes until it is).
You can find more tips, as well as a step-by-step picture guide to making hot water crust pastry here. - Preheat the oven to 190°C.
- Next, take about ⅔ of the pastry and cover the remaining pastry with a bit of clingfilm. Flour your work surface and roll out the larger bit of pastry until about 3mm thick. Use the 11-12cm pastry cutter to cut out 12 circles (cut out as many as you can, and then re-roll. Try to keep the re-rolling to a minimum). Place the pastry circles into the muffin tray, pressing it into the bottom and then easing it up the sides so that it comes slightly over the rim of each hole.
- Next, use the remaining third of the pastry and the 6-7cm cutter to cut out 12 lids for the pies. Use the end of a wooden spoon (or sth similar) to make a hole in the middle of each lid, about 0.5cm in diameter, to allow the steam to escape during baking.
- Remove the pork filling from the fridge and evenly distribute it among the 12 pastry cases, putting roughly 1-2 tbsp into each case.
- Brush the rims of each pastry case with a little beaten egg. Be careful nothing drips onto the muffin tray (or wipe it away with some kitchen towel) as it will burn in the oven. Place the lids on top of the pies and crimp the edges. You can either use your fingertips, or use a fork to push down and seal the edges. Brush the lids with a little more egg, trying not to get any running down the sides of the pastry cases and wiping away any excess on the tin before baking.
- Bake the pies in the preheated oven for about 50-60 minutes until golden brown.
- Near the end of the bake, place the gelatine leaves into a bowl of cold water and leave to soak for about 5 minutes. In the meantime, dissolve half a chicken stock cube in 300ml of boiling water.
Then, take your gelatine sheets and squeeze out as much water as possible. Then add that to the stock and stir until completely dissolved. - When the pies come out of the oven, very carefully pour a little of the stock mixture into each pie. If necessary, enlarge the holes in the lids again slightly. It´s crucial to go slowly at this stage, adding a little of the stock, watching it disappear into the pie, then adding a little more until it reaches the top of the hole and stays there. Try to avoid any spillage or over-filling of the pies with the stock. If it starts running down the sides of the pastry cases, they will go soggy. So, go slowly and wipe away any excess liquid as soon as possible.
- Place the tin onto a wire rack and leave the pies to cool for a few hours before removing them from the tin. Ideally, transfer the pies to a plate and cool in the fridge overnight to allow the gelatine to harden completely.
