Recipe: Ham Pie

the appetizer:

Home Made by Yvette Van Boven includes recipes like Ham Pie; Mullet with Chermoula; and Fried Salsify and Carrot Au Gratin with Gorgonzola.

Ham Pie

In this recipe I use loose or bulk sausage, available from any butcher. In Holland, I typically buy "saucisson" and remove the skin. Sausage meat is nice and fatty and well seasoned, so it gives a good, creamy flavor and texture to this pie.

1 lb ground pork
10 oz loose sausage
7 oz ham, cubed
6 sage leaves, chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
A few drops hot-pepper sauce
3 cups all-purpose flour and a little extra for dusting purposes
4 tbsp milk
1 stick butter and a little extra for greasing purposes
1 egg, lightly beaten

Combine the ground pork with the sausage, ham, sage, and onion in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper and a few drops of hot-pepper sauce. Grease an 8-inch springform pan and dust with flour. Mix the remaining flour with 2 tsp salt. Combine the milk and butter in a pan with 2/3 cup water and heat until the butter melts. Add the flour and stir well into a firm ball. Remove from the pan and work into smooth dough on the countertop. Line the springform pan with parchment paper. At the top allow the paper to slightly extend beyond the pan. Roll two-thirds of the dough into a round sheet approx. 12 inches in diameter. Line the pan and leave some dough to hang over the edge. Fill the pan with the meat mixture and press down, eliminating any air bubbles. Roll out the rest of the dough into a sheet that fits on the pie and cover the pie with it. Brush some water on the edges and press into a decorative pattern, if you are able to do so. Make 3 holes in the cover, using an apple corer, for example. Trim the edges and roll out the remaining dough. Cut out 3 circles of which the inner diameter is the same as the holes you have made with the apple corer. Place the rounds on the holes, filling them. Brush the beaten egg on the dough. Bake the pie for 30 minutes in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F/Gas 4 and then turn down the heat to 320 degrees F/Gas 3. Bake the pie for another hour. Leave to fully cool.

Serve with coarse mustard or with the cranberry, walnut, and pear chutney from page 158 of the book.