Scotch Pie

Serves: to make 4 pies

Prep Time: 10 Minutes + waiting

Cook Time: 45 Minutes

Ready In: 55 mins
+ waiting

FOR THE PASTRY

8 oz - plain flour (all purpose flour)

3½ oz - lard

4 fl oz - hot water

- salt

- milk

- olive oil

FOR THE FILLING

8 oz - lean minced lamb

1 - small onion

¼ teaspoon - mace

½ teaspoon - fresh thyme

½ teaspoon - freshly ground black pepper

3 fl oz - lamb or beef gravy

- olive oil

Make the pastry cases first. Put the plain flour into a deep bowl and make a hole in the centre with your fingers. Chop the lard into small cubes and place in a pan with the hot water. Heat the pan and stir until the lard has melted and mixed into the water. Pour this liquid into the hole in the flour and, using a spoon, combine the ingredients into a dough (it's actually easier to use your hands once the lard and water have cooled enough).
Roll the dough out on a flat, floured surface to form a sheet of pastry. Take a clean 3½" (9cm) ramekin dish and oil the sides and the base externally. Place it base-up on the worktop. Cut a rough circle of pastry about 8" (20cm) in diameter and carefully drape it over the ramekin dish. Use a knife to trim the pastry then repeat this with more ramekin dishes for all the pies (so a total of four times if you are following this recipe exactly). Place the dishes and pastry in the fridge for 30 minutes for the pastry to harden enough to keep its shape. Keep the remaining pastry for the lids.
Meanwhile, you can make the filling... Peel and finely chop the onion. Place a little oil on a saucepan and add the onion. Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook over a low heat, stirring from time to time, until the onions are translucent and have a soft texture. Stir in the mace, thyme and freshly-ground black pepper and the minced lamb. Cook quickly for three or four minutes to brown the meat.
Place the onion and lamb mixture into a deep bowl and add the gravy (a ready-made gravy mix is fine for this recipe). Allow the mixture to cool then stir thoroughly to mix the ingredients.
When the pastry has hardened, carefully peel the pie bottoms off the ramekin dishes - they should stand unassisted. Spoon the meat into the pastry cases up to a point about 2/3 of the height of the pastry-case (so about 1" of meat). Roll the remaining pastry and use the open end of one of the ramekin dishes like a cookie-cutter to cut the correct size for your pie-lids. Place the pie-lids on the pies, lightly pushing the lid down on to the filling so there is a ½" (1cm) deep rim around the top of the pie.
Pour a little milk into a bowl and brush the pies with it to help them brown evenly. Place the pies on a flat baking tray and bake in a preheated moderately cool oven (Mk 2 - 300ºF - 150ºC) for 45 minutes until golden brown. Serve hot with French Fries and Baked Beans, or with Mushy Peas, or with almost anything you can imagine!!