TURKEY PITHIVIER

Ingredients

Rough puff pastry 

200g strong plain flour

100g block butter

50g lard 

1tsp lemon juice

Pinch salt

Sufficient cold water to bind

Filling

100g chunks of cooked turkey

150g vegetables – I used mushrooms, leeks, broccoli and a spring onion (what was in the fridge)

About 1 tsp chopped parsley

Salt and pepper

Sauce: 100ml milk /cream/ half and half – whatever is in the fridge

1 tsp cornflour

Salt and pepper

Flour to dust, cold water to seal, milk to glaze

Method

  • Make pastry- sift flour and salt into a mixing bowl, roughly cut fats into 1 cm dice, add to flour, add lemon juice, add 4tbs cold water, mix well with a blunt knife. Add water gradually mixing well between each addition to form soft NOT STICKY dough. Roll dough into a rectangle 30cm by 10cm on a well floured surface. Fold the bottom up 2/3 and the top down 1/3. Turn the dough a 1/4 turn to the left, repeat the roll, fold and turn process 7 times to pack layers into the pastry. Leave to rest in the fridge approx 30 mins
  • Prepare filling ingredients- finely chop parsley and spring onion, roughly dice turkey, broccoli into baby florets, slice leek. 
  • Sauce- blend cornflour with milk / cream, gently heat stirring all the time, to a soft boil. Add prepared fillings, season, allow to cool.

Preheat oven 200C

  • Roll relaxed pastry to approx 3-5mm depth, cut 6 circles, mine were approx 12 cm diameter. Roll 3 slightly thinner / bigger to allow coverage of filling. Place sufficient filling on bases, wet edges with cold water, place tops over fillings and gently apply a little pressure to the edges to seal them. Glaze with milk, apply decorative finish- downward arc cuts from centre top, piercing the top slightly to release steam and prevent it bursting out the sides. Using a sharp knife cut a decorative edge into the sides of the pastry to exaggerate the pastry layers. 
  • Place on a lightly floured baking tray and allow to rest 20 mins. Oven-bake 20-25 mins until golden brown, remove from oven and serve.  

There is enough pastry to make 4 portions; I only needed 3 so made the leftover pastry into cheese straws. 

Contributed by: Jack Owen

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