Do you have one recipe that a family member adores and repeatedly requests? That’s the legendary pie that our 23-year-old begs me to make every year. In truth, it’s all about the leftovers from the main event but you could use fresh ingredients if you really wanted to.
You will need a very large baking dish or several medium sized dishes to make this in large quantities but it freezes very well.
Ingredients
• 400ml warm cooking stock (I use the ham water from the day before)
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 sticks of celery chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic chopped
• 80g flour
• Ham, cooked and chopped
• Turkey, cooked and chopped
• 200g frozen peas
• 200g frozen sweetcorn
• 2 packets defrosted pastry
• 1 egg for egg wash over the top
Method
Heat 3 tablespoons of pan juices in a saucepan on a medium heat. Add in the onions, celery and garlic. Cook gentley until tender.
Sprinkle the flour on top and with the vegetables. You are essentially making a type of roux sauce. Ladle in spoons of the hot cooking stock or hot water to the saucepan and stir constantly until you get a runny sauce-like texture. Stir in 1 tablespoon of wholegrain mustard (or more if you like mustard). There is no need to season this sauce because the seasoning comes from the salty stock made when the ham was boiled the day before.
Stir the meat and frozen vegetables into the sauce. Lay any leftover cooked vegetables into the bottom of the baking dish.
Spoon the sauce on top of the cooked vegetables. Cover the dish with a layer of pastry. Use a fork to poke holes on top and wash with a beaten egg for a glossy coating.
Cook in a fan oven heated to 180 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Serve with plenty of buttered mash.