Christmas Hodgepodge Pie

christmashodgepodgepie Christmas hodgepodge pie is a glorious mixture of all those lovely roast dinner leftovers, enveloped in a smooth, silky sauce and hugged by beautifully crumbly pastry.

Filling:
2 rashers smoked streaky bacon
unsalted butter (25 g)
olive oil
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 leeks
2 field mushrooms
2 tsp. wholegrain mustard
plain flour (50 g)
organic chicken stock (1 L)
2 Tbsp. crème fraîche
leftover cooked turkey and/or stuffing (500 g)
Brussels sprouts, uncooked (200 g)
2 Tbsp. cranberry sauce
1 large free-range egg

Pastry:
plain flour, plus extra for dusting (500 g)
unsalted butter, cold (250 g)
1 large free-range egg

For the Pastry:
Put the flour and 1 tsp. of sea salt into a bowl, cube and add the butter, then use your thumbs and forefingers to rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Beat the egg, then stir into the bowl with 3-4 Tbsp. of ice cold water. Use your hands to gently bring it together into a ball, but don't overwork it. Divide into two pieces and flatten each into a circle (for the top and bottom of your pie), then wrap in greaseproof paper and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Finely chop the bacon, then place in a large non-stick frying pan on a medium heat with the butter and 1 Tbsp. of olive oil (or turkey fat, if you have any). Pick, roughly chop and add the rosemary, then cook for 3 minutes, or until golden.

Wash, trim and roughly chop the white part of the leeks (save the green part for making stock or soup) and thickly slice the mushrooms, then add to the pan. Season with a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, then cook for 10 minutes, or until soft and caramelised, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the mustard, then the flour, and pour in the stock - any leftover turkey gravy will add great bonus flavour here, too. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes on a medium-low heat, then turn off the heat and add the crème fraîche. At this stage, you can either leave it chunky or use a stick blender to whiz it to your preferred consistency. Leave to cool completely.

Once cold, set aside half of the sauce to serve, then tear up the turkey meat and stir it into the pan, adding some stuffing, if you've got it. Trim, finely slice and stir in the Brussels sprouts.

Preheat the oven to 340°F (170°C/150°C fan, Gas Mark 3) and grease the bottom of a round 30 cm pie dish with a little oil (or leftover turkey fat, if you have any).

Roll out half the pastry on a clean flour-dusted surface to ½ cm thick and use it to line the pie dish, then tip in your turkey pie filling. Dollop the cranberry sauce on top. Beat the egg, then use it to brush the edges.

Roll out the remaining pastry to ½ cm thick and a little bigger than the pie dish. Use a selection of cutters to cut out shapes in the middle, and set aside. Carefully place the pastry left behind on top of the pie dish and brush with beaten egg, then place the reserved pastry shapes on top, filling any gaps. Trim off any pastry, then roll out again and cut out more shapes, until all the gaps are filled.

Brush the top with beaten egg, and press a fork around the edges to seal. Bake at the bottom of the oven for 45-50 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the filling is piping hot.

When you're nearly ready to serve, reheat the remaining sauce until piping hot, then take it to the table alongside the pie. Delicious with steamed greens and peas.

Makes 10 servings.

Cook's Notes: The simple addition of crumbled chestnuts to the pastry is a total game-changer. Roll out the pastry, crumble 6 vac-packed chestnuts over one half of it, then fold the other half over and roll out again, crushing the chestnuts into it.