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Leftovers pie

With homemade rough puff pastry and a creamy filling, this pie made from your roast dinner (or Christmas dinner) leftovers will leave everyone speechless. The pastry freezes really well, so you can have it made ahead for almost instant luxury.

Ingredients

    • 300g/10½oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
    • ¼ tsp salt
    • 225g/8oz butter, cold and cut into small cubes
    • 150ml/5fl oz ice-cold water, kept chilled in a bowl of ice cubes
    • 1 tsp lemon juice
    • 40g/1½oz butter
    • 1 onion, chopped
    • 3 tbsp plain flour, plus extra for dusting
    • 300ml/10fl oz chicken stock (or 150ml/5fl oz leftover gravy mixed with 150ml/5fl oz chicken stock), plus extra if needed
    • 1 heaped tsp wholegrain mustard
    • 150ml/5fl oz double cream
    • about 360g/12½oz leftover meat, such as turkey, chicken or ham, sliced
    • about 240g/8¾oz leftover vegetables, such as carrots or Brussels sprouts, cut into chunks
    • 1 free-range egg, beaten, for glazing
    • salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

  1. To make the pastry, put the flour, salt and butter in a large bowl. Rub the butter gently through the flour, make sure that chunks of butter remain in the mixture. Gradually add the cold water and lemon juice. Use your hands to bring the ingredients together into a rough dough.
  2. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and form into a scraggy ball. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
  3. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry into a rectangle that is about 1cm/½in thick and three times as long as it is wide. Brush any excess flour off. Fold the top third of the pastry down and the bottom third up over that to create a block. Turn 90 degrees and roll out to the same size rectangle as before.
  4. Fold into a block as before. Wrap in baking paper and chill for 15 minutes.
  5. Remove from the fridge and repeat the rolling and folding twice (so it has been rolled and folded four times all together). Wrap in baking paper and chill for 30 minutes before using.
  6. To make the filling, melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the onion for a few minutes until soft and translucent.
  7. Sprinkle in the flour and mix well. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Gradually add the stock and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly. Add the mustard and cream and stir. If the sauce is too thick, add a splash of stock or water.
  8. Take the sauce off the heat, add the leftover meat and vegetables and stir well. Season with salt and pepper, then set aside to cool completely.
  9. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Take the pastry from the fridge and cut off about a third of the pastry to use as the lid.
  10. Roll out the larger piece of pastry to about 5mm thick on a lightly floured surface and cut out a circle (or oval or rectangle) that fits into a 1 litre/1¾ pint pie dish.
  11. Line the pie dish with the pastry and fill with the pie mixture. Brush the pastry edges with the beaten egg.
  12. Roll out the remaining pastry to make a lid and lay over the filling, crimping the edges with your fingers to seal. Trim away any excess pastry. Brush the top all over with the egg wash and set aside in the fridge for 10 minutes (or even overnight) to firm up.
  13. Bake for 35–45 minutes. When the pastry is golden-brown and crisp all over, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes, then cut into slices and serve.