Picnic pie

We may have come second last in Eurovision, be in the throes of a double-dip recession and wondering whether a week’s holiday in Greece is either a really good idea or a really bad one. But in all this gloom, there is a shimmer of hope. I’m talking, of course, about Queenie and the Diamond Jubilee celebrations taking place over this four-day weekend.

We are very easily pleased, here at Crumbs and have banned any thoughts of beer and circuses, have pushed aside any republican sentiments and are embracing the red, white and blue fever that is sweeping the nation.

We will be having a street party (have a look at our ‘how to’ guide from last year here) and festooning ourselves in bunting.  But mainly we will be expressing our joy of the monarchy by eating. And drinking.

 We are going to a festival in Hyde Park this Saturday and then to Battersea Park on Sunday to watch the 1000-strong flotilla on the River Thames. So this weekend, will be all about the picnic for us and we like to keep things simple.

You don’t need to pack a dozen dishes. This picnic pie is all you need. Throw in a couple of packs of crisps (I prefer crinkle cut salt and vinegar, personally), some pickled onions and maybe a tomato salad on the side. dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Oh and cake and drink, obviously. Tomorrow I will blog about a Union Jack pavlova, whilst my alcoholic sister will tell us about her favourite picnic tipple. We will finish off our Jubilee series with a recipe for Coronation Chicken – an apricot and mayonnaise dish that was invented in 1952. Don’t say we don’t spoil you.

Picnic Pie – serves 6-8

Takes: 20 mins to make, 50 to bake

You will need:

butter, for greasing

1 packet ready rolled all butter puff pastry (all butter is tastier, but if you can only get normal stuff, don’t worry)

4 skinned sausages

1 grated apple, skin and all

1 chopped onion (or half a pack of ready-chopped)

1 tbsp chopped thyme leaves

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 breast ready-cooked chicken – sliced (or you could use ready sliced chicken)

6 slices thick ham

1 egg beaten to glaze 

You could do this in a loose-bottomed pie dish, but I prefer doing it in a 5cm deep and 20cm wide, loose-bottomed or Springform cake tin. If you don’t have one, a deeper dish will work, but the pie lid will be trickier to get on and it won’t look so nice. Look at my picture here, if you don’t believe me.

It freezes well and if you don’t have ham, just use chicken and vice versa. I used wholegrain mustard, but only because I didn’t have Dijon (once cooked, the mustard is less strong and both my kids enjoyed it), but I have a feeling it would be tasty with Branston’s pickle too!

Heat oven to 180c. Butter your tin. Lay out the pastry on a floured work top. Drawing with a knife around the top of the tin, cut out a lid for the pie. Put this to one side. Use the remaining pastry to line the tin, pushing it down so it fits snugly inside to make your own pie case. Leave some pastry overhanging the tin's sides, so you can use it to fix the pie lid on, later.
Make a split up the side of each sausage skin and squeeze all the meat out. Discard the skins and then mix the meat with the apples, onions and thyme. Line the pastry with 3 slices of ham and spread 1 tbsp mustard over the top. Layer on top half the sausagemeat. Then add a layer of chicken. And repeat the whole process again. Ham, mustard, sausage meat, chicken. Then pop the lid on and press the edges of the pastry together with the overhanging pastry that makes up the pie’s bottom. Brush the lid with the beaten egg. Make a couple of knife slits to let the steam out and put in the oven for 50min or until brown on top. Leave to cool for 15 mins and then remove from the tin and allow to cool completely, or eat warm. Either way, delicious.