Paglesham Pie

Some Paglesham pie, earlier

Little is known of the history of this flavourful variant on the humble English pork and egg pie, which shares its name with, and perhaps originated in the picturesque Essex village of the same name.  This local dish seems to be all but forgotten; indeed it's conspicuous by its absence from the menu of Paglesham's local, the Plough and Sail.  Perhaps it's just one of those things that have been lost to time, which is a shame because this melt-in-the-mouth pie really ought to be on the menu of every pub in the county! 

With the possible exception of our local cockles and oysters, South East Essex seems to be lacking in local delicacies to champion, but that could all be about to change.  This recipe - one, I believe, of many - is adapted from a variant posted on essexgourmet.co.uk and, put in layman's terms, it's practically a complete English breakfast in pie form.  The ideal way to start, or, indeed round off a rigorous day's ploughing.

• 227g shortcrust pastry, chilled
• One pack of sausage meat
• One onion, chopped finely
• 2tsp mustard
• A few thin slices of streaky smoked bacon
• A few eggs
• Black pepper
• Milk to glaze

Note: the traditional recipe also calls for a pinch each of nutmeg and mace, neither of which are in my otherwise well-stocked spice rack.  I could only lay my hands on a couple of leaves of finely chopped fresh sage and hoped for the best.. but I think I got it!

Serves 4-6

Pre-heat an oven to 200 degrees, gas 6.

Fry the chopped onion slowly in a little olive oil until softened.  Meanwhile, roll out the pastry and line a loaf tin with it (you could of course use any kind of dish.)  Cut away the pastry which overhangs the loaf tin and re-roll it, keeping one eye all the time on the onions so that they don't burn.  Remove the onions from the heat once cooked and set aside.

Mix together the sausage meat with the herbs and spices and season to taste, with plenty of black pepper.  Add the cooled onion and mix well.  Spoon this mixture into the pie, taking care to fill it not much more than two-thirds of the way.

Place a few slices of bacon over the top of the sausage meat, then break a few eggs directly over the bacon, taking care to leave the yolks whole.  Cover the whole thing with a pastry lid and brush lightly with milk before baking for twenty minutes.  Reduce the heat to 180 degrees or gas 4 for a further half hour. 

Try to resist the temptation to eat the pie straight from the oven; delicious though it is, it will slice better cold, straight from the fridge.  Nice with a few pickles and a pint of foaming nut-brown ale.