Recipes

Chosen from Britain's Best Dish (DK £20), this is a traditional recipe for Somerset Tiddy Oggy pies - cheesy pork and apple bites with crab apple jelyl and apple chutney.





For the Pastry

    100g lard
    100g butter
    450g plain flour
    Pinch of salt
    About 6 tbsp iced water

For the Filling

    1 medium cooking apple, such as Bramley
    Knob of butter
    1 onion, finely chopped
    50g celery, finely chopped
    225g pork mince
    1-2 tbsp chopped parsley
    2 tbsp grated mature Cheddar cheese
    4 tbsp toasted bredcrumbs
    1 free-range egg, beaten
    Salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve
Crab apple jelly
Apple Chutney

Method

Put the lard, butter, flour and salt in a food processor and whizz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Gradually add the iced water, a very little at a time, until the mixture just comes together into a ball. Remove the dough from the food processor, wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Peel, core and finely chop the apple. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat and fry the onion, celery and apple until the onion is soft and translucent. Transfer to a bowl. Put the mince in the same pan and fry it in its own fat, stirring frequently, until lightly browned. Add to the onion with the parsley, season and stir well. Allow to cool, then chill in the refrigerator until needed.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and allow it to come almost back to room temperature (this helps to avoid cracking). Roll out the pastry on a floured work surface and cut into 15cm rounds.

Place a spoonful of the mince mixtre in the centre of each pastry round, brush the edges with water, then pull up the sidces and press together, leaving a hole at the top. Fill the holes with the cheese and top with breadcrumbs. Brush each of the pastries with a little beaten egg to glaze.

Place the tiddy oggys on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 30 minutes until the pastry is cooked and golden. Serve warm or cold with the jelly and chutney.