Recipe: Berners Tavern Pork Pie

To celebrate British Pie Week, we’ve got a series of delicious pie recipes for you. To kick things off, let’s start with the delectable pork pie lunch at Berners Tavern.

‘We spent 4 months developing the recipe, and it’s all about using the highest quality meat and finest produce, and patience too. We use free range pork supplied by Dingley Dell in Suffolk, which is fundamental to the taste and quality of the dish. It takes us two days to make one of our pork pies, as we let our pork mince develop with a mixture of herbs including mace, garlic and sage. We use a hot water crust pastry to give the pie a strong crust with classic texture. The pork pie is served with a selection of pickled onion, carrots and fennel which cut through the dishes’ richness.’ – Phil Carmichael, Head Chef at Berners Tavern

Berners Tavern Pork Pie Recipe

Pie mix

Ingredients

• 400g Pork shoulder finely minced
• 400g Pork shoulder coarsely minced
• 325g Smoked pork belly small dice
• 325g Smoked pork belly finely minced
• 200g Pork loin small dice
• ¼ tsp Ground mace
• 1 tsp Ground nutmeg
• ½ bunch Chopped sage/
• 30g Chopped garlic
• Pink salt to taste
• Ground white pepper to taste

Method

Mix all ingredients together and allow to marinate

Pie crust 

Ingredients

• 1100g Plain flour
• 400g Lard
• 440ml Water
• 2 Eggs beaten

Method

1. Bring the water and lard up to the boil and pour into the flour, mix until dough comes together and add eggs. Knead for 5 mins.
2. Roll out into sheets 5mm thick and allow to cool

To assemble

1. Line the pie mould with the pastry and fill with the pie mix.
2. Top the terrine with a pastry lid and make two holes at either end of the lid. Place pie funnels into the holes and egg wash
3. Place into oven (170c) and insert probe into the middle part and set the probe to 65’
4. When cooked (1h30) remove and allow to chill before placing in fridge
5. Remove the pie funnels the next day and fill the terrine with melted pork jelly until it over flows from the mould. Allow to set and repeat if necessary.

Sounds like too much effort to make it yourself? Get yourself down to Berners Tavern and enjoy their traditional British pork pie served table-side with English piccalilli, pickled vegetables and mustard, £17.

READ MORE: Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Recipe