Gala pie recipe

kerri_gt

I was thinking about making a gala pie and then freezing some slices for lunches and the like (as its only me and OH, and he is a veggie I don't want to have to eat hot water crust pie for a week)

I would like to be as frugal as possible, so using things I already have, however I'm getting a bit stumped with recipes. I have 500g of pork mince to use in the freezer which needs using up, lots of recipes have several meats, including in sausage inners - I have some little pigs in blankets but don't want to use there to try sausage meat as it seems a waste. I do have a bit of bacon in the freezer too which I could add.

My main query is, what as the essentials for the pie, is it ok to use just pork mince, some herbs and seasoning as well as the hard boiled eggs? I have some prunes I could use from a hairy bikers pie recipe I made a few years ago.

Also, I only have 55g of lard without buying more (again left from the hairy bikers recipe, it's not something I cook with often) - how much pastry would this make?

Sorry for all the questions, I am a competent cook but am afraid of getting this wrong and wasting the ingredients.

JIL

make mini pies in muffin tins. Delia does a really good vegetarian pork pie that you could adapt. http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/picnic-food/pie/not-pork-pies.html

I made a pie at school many years ago in a small loaf tin, all it was was seasoned sausage meat and hard boiled eggs in the middle. Not quite gala pie but it did get eaten quickly.

joedenise

Just a quick point but hard boiled eggs don't freeze well - they are very leathery when defrosted.

You really need to be thinking about doing a pie without the eggs which I'm sure would still be very nice.

Denise

jackyann

I wouldn't freeze either the hard boiled eggs or the hot water crust pastry (actually all pastry goes a bit sad in the freezer and needs heating up, which defeats the point here)

I would do one of these things:

make up your pork mince recipe - as this is cooked left-overs can go in the freezer, in portions (and yes, I'd happily add bacon & prunes)

make a small pork/gala pie - say 2 portions - tightly wrap the left-over and it will keep a couple of days in the fridge
if you want to make double the pastry mix, and halve it, then the raw portion will freeze

next week (say) you have pork mince and pastry in the freezer to make another small pie

I'd also think about scotch eggs, which will also keep a couple of days in the fridge

and thanks JIL - I am off to try a veggie "pork pie"!

kerri_gt

Thanks all for your feedback, and that veggie pie recipe looks fab too - as well as a great idea about making mini pies.

Jackyana j do like a nice scotch egg, they are often my guilty pleasure 'treat' when I do the food shop but there's no reason I can't make my own (in fact I did, many years ago once)

I shall have a think about what to cook, and if I do end up doing too much I'm sure I'll have a queue of willing voluneteers to help me eat it all lol.