Breakfast Pie

Hi everyone, I hope you are all well and thanks for dropping in to read our blog, we do appreciate it. Oh, by the way, its BBC2 here with a pie recipe I hope you will try. Like most things in life this pie comes with a little history and the name may also be a little misleading, I’ve never had the pie for breakfast but I call it this as it started life as an egg and bacon pie that has sausages added so egg, bacon and sausages gives you breakfast pie, I know it’s not funny but it makes me smile, sorry. Anyway the history bit now, BBC1 used to make egg and bacon pie and then started adding the sausages, so this was and is his pie recipe that I have taken on and hopefully I do BBC1’s recipe justice.

Ingredients:

For the filling:
8 to 10 rashers rind less streaky bacon
3 large pork sausages sinks removed
7 eggs
2/3 tablespoons milk
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon oil

For the pastry:
300g/10½ oz plain flour
175g/6oz cold unsalted butter cut into cubes
1 egg beaten
1 tablespoon cold water
25cm/10 inch pie plate lightly buttered

Method:
To make the pastry put the flour in a food processor and pulse for a second or two to aerate the flour then add the butter and pulse until the mixture becomes fine breadcrumbs, now add the beaten egg and with the motor running add a tablespoon of cold water, the mixture should come together in a ball. Stop the processor and pinch the pastry between your fingers and if it holds its shape then remove it and wrap it in cling film and pop it into the refrigerator, if it crumbles add a little more cold water, but be careful not to add to much and make the dough sticky, just a drop.

Preheat the oven 170c fan

To make the filling, put the oil in a large frying pan on a medium heat and fry the bacon until it is crispy and set to one side on a plate with some kitchen towel to cool and drain. Take the skins off the sausages and break each sausage into three and roll each bit into a ball, do this to each sausage giving nine balls that you now fry in the same pan you used for the bacon, pressing each ball down to make them into patties, fry them for a few minutes and then turn them when they start to colour, when they are cooked remove and place them on kitchen towel to also cool and drain.

Assembly time – see photos below. Cut just over half the pastry off and on a lightly floured surface roll it out to about the thickness of a pound coin or 3mm/8th inch and cover the pie plate gently pressing it into place, now place the pie plate on a baking sheet, this will help when it comes to putting the pie into the oven. I use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut up the cold bacon into small bits over the bottom to the pastry, making sure that none goes onto the edge and it is evenly spread over the bottom of the pie, now place the cold sausage patties around the outside of the pie but not on the edge and place one in the centre, now carefully break an egg into a small bowl/ramekin and gently lower into the pie, I start at 12 o’clock and work my way around until all six eggs are in place season with a little salt and pepper and hopefully all the yolks have not broken, but if they do, don’t worry it won’t show once the pie is covered and cooked.

Beat the last egg with a little milk. The amount of milk will depend on the size and depth of your pie dish, and pour it around the gaps in the pies filling, but 2 to 3 tablespoons should do but leave enough egg wash to glaze the pie before it goes into the oven. Now roll out the remaining pastry so that you can cover the pie, brush the rim of the pie with a little egg wash and carefully place the pastry lid on the pie, using the prongs of a folk carefully crimp the edge of the pie turning the baking sheet not the pie, then using a shape knife cut off the excess pastry again turning the baking sheet not the pie. Brush with the egg wash and place in the oven for 45 to 55 minutes or until the filling is cooked, you can check this after about 45 minutes by sticking the end of a sharp knife into one side of the centre of the pie to see if any egg/milk mixture runs out, if it does pop it back in for another 5 minutes.

We have this with fat chips fried in beef dripping and baked beans, but it’s a good family pie eaten hot or cold.

BBC1: My pie, my pie LOL! I especially went and bought an enamel metal pie plate to make this. Then I remembered my mum had several of these for making all kinds of pies. This pie is a great cold snack too and would be good for a picnic or lunch boxes.