Turkey and Ham Pie

(Feeds 8)

Ingredients:

  • 600 - 800g cold left-over turkey pulled from the carcass

  • Any stuffing left-overs (optional)

  • 100g gammon, bacon or ham, diced

  • 1 large onion

  • Seasoning

For the white sauce:

  • 50g unsalted butter

  • 40g plain flour

  • 1 pint of milk (full or semi)

Glazing for the pastry:

  • 1 free range/organic egg

  • 50ml of milk

  • Knob of butter

  • Splash of Rapeseed/vegetable oil

Pastry:

Homemade is always best but to save time, 1 pack of ready-to –roll pastry or 2 packs of the ready-rolled type. Puff or shortcrust, the choice is yours, both are delicious!

Method:

Pull any turkey meat from the carcass, discarding any skin or bone. You can cut any larger pieces but leave most ‘as pulled’ and place in a large mixing bowl ready for the other ingredients. Add the stuffing at this point if using. Chop the onion well and place into a hot frying pan. When just starting to brown nicely take off the heat and put in the bowl with the turkey meat.

In the same pan brown off the bacon/gammon (skip this stage if using ham). When nicely browned add to the turkey in the mixing bowl.

Gently melt the butter over a low heat, once melted, remove and mix in the flour bit by bit until a smooth paste has been achieved. Add the milk a little at a time until the mix is smooth with no lumps. Return to the heat, turned up to medium and constantly stir until the sauce thickens. Pour the sauce over the other ingredients, season to taste and stir thoroughly.

Grease the pie dish and roll out your pastry big enough to cover the base and sides of the dish, carefully place in the dish and add the filling. Mix the egg and milk together and brush onto pastry edges. Roll out remaining pastry and cover the top of the pie and crimp the edges to seal. Make a hole in the centre of the pie with a knife and add any decoration with scraps of pastry, brush the top with the egg and milk mix.

Place the pie in a pre-heated oven at 180’C (170’C fan) for 30 mins or until golden brown, remove from the oven and rest for 15mins, your pie is now ready for the table, Enjoy!