BACON AND EGG PIE

Bacon and egg pie is an absolute New Zealand staple – and, as my mum was a Kiwi, this featured heavily in my youth. It always came with us on picnics.

FOR 3-4

★ butter, for greasing

★ 200g ready-made puff pastry

★ plain flour, for dusting

★ 5 eggs

★ 4 back bacon rashers, rind removed

★ sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

TO SERVE ★

chutney or ketchup (optional)

★ buttered peas or a salad (optional)

★ Preheat the oven to 230C/ 210C fan/gas 8. Heat a baking tray at the same time – you want a hot tray so the bottom of the pie starts crisping immediately. G rease a 24cm pie plate or cake tin with butter.

★ Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 3mm and cut out two circles, one for the bottom, about 24cm, and one a bit smaller for the top. Line the greased plate with the larger circle of pastry, pressing it well into the base and draping any excess over the sides.

★ Crack the eggs into the pie (hold back a bit of the white of the last egg if it seems too much – you don’t want it overflowing! Use the tip of a sharp knife to pierce each yolk, then season the eggs well with salt and pepper.

★ Lay the bacon on top. Brush the rim of the pie, either using the egg white you held back or by dipping your pastry brush into the filling. Brush the top of the other circle of pastry, then cut a cross in its centre. Carefully lay this on top of the pie, brushed-side up, and press the edges together well. Trim off the excess pastry, then go round the pie rim pressing with the tines of a fork, or crimp between your finger and thumb.

★ Put the pie on the hot tray and reduce the oven to 210C/190C fan/gas 6½. Cook for 25 minutes – the eggs should be set and the bacon cooked. Remove from the oven and slide the pie on to a wire rack, so the crisp bottom doesn’t steam and go soggy. Serve hot or warm with chutney or ketchup, buttered peas or a salad.

LEFTOVERS Little snippets of pastry can be pressed together and rolled out into cheese straws – a great way to use up cheese ends, too. Roll the pastry into a rectangle, brush half with Marmite, mustard, tomato chutney or tapenade and shower with grated cheese, then fold the other half over and roll again to the same size rectangle. Brush with milk and scatter with seeds – say, cumin, poppy, sesame or fennel. Cut into fingers and bake in an oven preheated to 210C/190C fan/ gas 6½ for about 12 minutes or until puffy and golden.