There is something profoundly satisfying in producing home-made pies. Humble, hearty, heartwarming, and a whole slew of other charming adjectives come to mind. Especially in this case, when the end result belies the amount of effort that went into making them. I thought these golden little pork pies looked oh-so-pretty, and yet they were assembled in a jiffy and yielded a smug 8/10 from my husband in the taste test.

Pork pies with cider and apples

Serves 4
Preparation time 15 minutes
Baking time 15-20 minutes

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion (I used red); roughly chopped
• 3-4 leeks; roughly chopped
• 1 clove garlic; chopped
• 2 pork lion chops, rind and fat removed and roughly chopped
• 2 rashers bacon
• 100ml cider
• 1 parsnip (or small sweet potato); peeled and sliced
• 1 large / 2 small apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
• 1 level teaspoon dried tarragon (or sage)
• 3-4 Tbsp cream
• S + P to taste
• 1 roll ready-made puff pastry, thawed
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized pot, fry the onion and leeks for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and fry for another minute. Add in the pork pieces and the bacon and fry for 3-4 minutes until golden brown.

Pour in the cider and add the parsnip and apples. Simmer gently for about 7 minutes. Add in the tarragon, cream and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for a further 2-3 minutes then remove and set aside.

Meanwhile, pre-heat your oven to 180C. Divide the pork mixture between 4 ramekins, or one medium sized oven-proof dish. Roll out the pastry, prick haphazardly with a fork and top each of the ramekins/your ovenproof dish with a round of pastry and brush with egg yolk. Push down the edges of the pastry with a fork.

Just before you are ready to eat, bake the pies until the pastry is puffy and golden.

I served these with peas and a baked sweet potato for Rob. If you are planning on having people over, you could easily make these a day or two in advance, leaving out step 5 above, and then just bake until the pastry is golden before serving. You could swop in chicken for pork and it would also be delicious.

Originally posted on afoodieliveshere - Pork Pies with Cider & Apples