Goose and Lamb Pie

new year pie

January 2nd 2013

On the 30th December I had some leftover goose and lamb, not to mention stuffing, which needed eating. There was far too much to eat in a couple of sittings and to be honest I’d had enough of Christmas food, so I made a pie. I cooked the filling on the 30th, giving it time overnight for all the flavours to infuse (or is that enthuse).

Goose and Lamb filling:

1 lb diced roast goose
1 1/2 lb diced roast lamb
1 lb cooked stuffing (chopped)
4 slices smoked streaky bacon (chopped)
1 pint of home made lamb stock
1/2 pint of home made goose stock
1 large onion (chopped)
2 carrots (chopped)
2 sticks of celery (chopped)
6 button mushrooms (chopped)
6 pieces of garlic (finely chopped)
2 teaspoons of ground herbs (rosemary, sage and thyme – ground in a mortar and pestle with coarse sea salt and black peppercorns)
2 bay leaves
1 large pinch of crushed chilli
2 teaspoons hot Pimentón de la Vera
1 glass of red wine
a splash of red wine vinegar
2 dessert spoons of tomato purée
1 squeeze of anchovy paste
a little olive oil
1 teaspoon of goose fat

cook until tender

Heat a little olive oil and goose fat in a cast iron casserole and fry the onion with a pinch of chilli until it’s translucent. Add the bacon and when it has browned, the celery, carrot and garlic. Follow those with the mushrooms a few minutes later. Stir in all the meat and stuffing, sprinkle on the ground herbs,  squirt in the purée and anchovy paste, pour in the wine, vinegar and stock. The stock was homemade, from a goose carcass and a lamb leg bone. Bring the casserole to a  simmer, sprinkle on the Pimentón de la Vera, stir, put the lid on the casserole and pop it in the oven at 100º C for 2 – 3 hours.

Do taste the pie filling from time to time. I recommend tasting and adding more of the purée, anchovy paste, pimentón, wine and vinegar if necessary – the flavours do mellow with cooking and may need to be reinvigorated. Make sure you only add a little at a time – too much might ruin it.

pie filling

I left the pie filling to cool overnight and gave it another hour of cooking the next morning, by which time it was very tender and the meat had absorbed lots of flavour. When ready I left the filling to cool again. The stuffing did a good job of thickening the dish, so I didn’t add flour, which I would have done.

pastry

Do make the pastry at least an hour before using and chill it in the fridge – this makes it easier to roll. I always make pastry, it’s much better than the bought variety – you can tell the difference big time. See here for a good basic pastry recipe.

goose and lamb pie

When the pie mix is cool and you are ready to cook it, pre heat the oven to 200º C. Pour the mixture into a pie dish, roll out the pastry to slightly larger than the dish, cover the filling and tuck the edges in. Crimp all the way round with your fingers. Decorate the pie with leftover pastry – I cut the goose out freehand, but you could print something, cut it out and use it as a template. Brush the pie with some beaten egg and do make sure you cut a few holes in the pastry to let the heat out or it will blow up like a ballon.

the golden goose

Cook for 30 – 45 minutes – it’s ready when the pastry is golden brown. My pie went into the oven in 2012 and came out in 2013!

The pie serves 6 people and goes very well with champagne.

Happy New Year.

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