This spiced pork pie is delicious hot and cold. I served it hot with gravy and vegetables when I first made it then had the leftover pie cold the next day with salad. I once made one for my Grandson when he came home from school and he polished off the lot before he went home. You can even make the pie in advance and freeze it, uncooked, to bake another day.
The spice mix includes Allspice. Here is a little bit of information about it.
- Allspice is the dried fruit of the P. dioica plant. The fruit are picked when green and unripe and are traditionally dried in the sun. When dry, they are brown and resemble large brown peppercorns. The whole fruits have a longer shelf life than the powdered product and produce a more aromatic product when freshly ground before use.
- Fresh leaves are used where available. They are similar in texture to bay leaves and are thus infused during cooking and then removed before serving. Unlike bay leaves, they lose much of their flavour when dried and stored, so do not figure in commerce. The leaves and wood are often used for smoking meats where allspice is a local crop. Allspice can also be found in essential oil form.
- Allspice is one of the most important ingredients of Caribbean cuisine. It is used in Caribbean jerk seasoning (the wood is used to smoke jerk in Jamaica, although the spice is a good substitute) and in pickling; it is also an ingredient in commercial sausage preparations and curry powders.
- Allspice is also indispensable in Middle Eastern cuisine, particularly in the Levant, where it is used to flavour a variety of stews and meat dishes. In Palestinian cuisine, for example, many main dishes call for allspice as the sole spice added for flavouring.
- Allspice is commonly used in Great Britain, and appears in many dishes, including cakes.
- Even in many countries where allspice is not very popular in the household, as in Germany, it is used in large amounts by commercial sausage makers.
Here is the recipe.
Spiced Pork and Potato pie Serves 6
- 1 md potato, cut into small chunks
- 1 tsp sunflower oil
- 500g lean minced pork
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp each of ground cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg
- 100 ml / 3.5 fl oz vegetable or chicken stock
- 400g / 14 oz ready-made shortcrust pastry
- 1 egg beaten to glaze.
- Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
- Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender then drain.
- Heat oil in a large frying pan and fry the mince and onion together over a high heat until browned. Add the garlic, spices, stock, plenty of pepper and a little salt. Mix well and remove from the heat.
- Add the potatoes, mash down and combine with the meat mix. Leave to cool.
- Roll out half the pastry and line a pie dish with it. Pile the pork mix on top and even out. Brush edges of pastry base then cover with a pastry lid made from the remaining pastry. Press the edges together and crimp to seal. Cut a cross in the centre to let the steam escape the brush the top with the beaten egg.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes and serve hot or cold.
Tasty Advice 