Leftover Boxing Day Pie
There are two options for the 26th December in my kitchen: pasta with leftover meat (= pappardelle al ragù) or a pie filled with leftovers (= Boxing Day Pie). This year, I'll go for pie, a cozy Boxing Day Pie, to use all that delicious meat, gravy, vegetables and stuffing that’s left from the past couple days. A buttery golden short crust holds the rich filling together - all those deeply satisfying flavors wrapped in a pretty pastry shell.
It's that easy: you just have to chop up whatever is left of your Christmas goose, duck or stew, mix it with carrots, peas and boiled potatoes and stir in some leftover gravy. The mixture should be thick and not too liquid as this would make the pastry soggy. A thick stew is what you’re after.
If there's nothing left of your Christmas lunches and dinners, you can make the pie I baked last week (which you can see in the photos). It was filled with a wonderfully tender and aromatic wild boar stew that cooked for hours. I prepared the stew the night before I baked the pie to let it sit and cool (a warm filling would soak the pastry before it even sees the oven).
Wild Boar Pie
For a 20cm / 8″ springform pan you need
For the filling
wild boar goulash, cut into 3 x 3 cm / 1 x 1" cubes, 1kg / 2 1/4 pounds
medium sized onion, chopped, 1
medium tomato, chopped, 1
carrots, cut in half and sliced, 2
celery stalk, cut into cubes, 1
brandy or port 75ml / 1/3 cup
red wine 350ml / 1 1/2 cups
garlic, quartered, 2 cloves
tomato paste 1 tablespoon
mustard 1 teaspoon
juniper berries, cracked, 4
fresh sage leaves 4
a small bunch of thyme
bay leaf 1
salt and pepper
olive oil
potatoes, peeled and boiled, cut into cubes, 280g / 10 ounces, to mix into the filling
peas (fresh or frozen), uncooked, 100g / 3.5 ounces, to mix into the filling
In a casserole dish, heat a splash of olive oil and sear the meat in batches on all sides for 1-2 minutes, season with salt and pepper. Set the meat aside, add a little more olive oil and sauté the vegetables for 2 minutes, add the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Deglaze with the brandy, put the meat back into the pot and add the red wine, spices, herbs and mustard. Season with salt and pepper, close with a lid and cook on medium-low heat (slightly simmering) for 2 hours or until the meat is tender. Take out the meat and vegetables and cook down the sauce on high temperature for about 1o minutes or until thick and not too liquid. Put the meat and vegetables back into the casserole dish, season to taste and let it cool completely. Stir in the peas and potatoes.
For the pastry
plain flour 250g / 9 ounces
salt 1/2 teaspoon
butter, cold, 75g / 2 3/4 ounces
vegetable shortening, cold, 75g / 2 3/4 ounces
organic egg yolk 1
cold water 1 tablespoon
For the glaze
organic egg yolk 1
milk 1 tablespoon
a pinch of salt
Combine the flour with the salt. Cut the butter and vegetable shortening into the flour with a knife until there are just little pieces left. Continue with your fingers and work the butter into the flour. Add the egg and water and continue mixing with the hooks of your mixer until you have a crumbly mixture. Form 2 discs, dividing them roughly 2:1, wrap in cling film and put in the freezer for 10 minutes.
The pie
Set the oven to 200°C / 390°F (top/ bottom heat).
Whisk the egg yolk, milk and salt for the glaze.
Take the dough out of the freezer, put the smaller disc in the fridge and roll out the bigger one between cling film. It should be roughly 34cm / 13.5", big enough to line the bottom and the sides of the springform pan, overlapping the rim about 1 cm / 1/2“. Gently line the pan with the pastry (leave the cling film on the top side to put it in place) and put the springform pan in the fridge.
Roll out the remaining disc, a bit bigger than the springform pan.
Take the pastry-lined springform pan out of the fridge and fill it with the thick stew. Put the smaller disc on top and gently push the sides onto the bottom layer of pastry, sealing it by rolling it inwards. Brush the top with the glaze and bake the pie for 15 minutes before you turn it down to 175°C / 350°F and bake for another 55 minutes or until golden and baked through. Let the pie cool for at least 20 minutes before you open the springform pan and cut it into pieces.
