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Pork and Seaweed Pie with Potato Crust

Pork and Seaweed Pie with Potato Crust is a traditional Cornish recipe for a pie of pork, bacon and purple laver cooked in a pastry crust topping. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Cornish version of: Pork and Seaweed Pie with Potato Crust.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

120 minutes

Total Time:

140 minutes

Serves:

8

Rating:

Tags : Wild FoodPork RecipesBaking RecipesBritish RecipesEnglish RecipesCornish Recipes

I have seen a couple of versions of this unusual surf and turf dish along the north coasts of both Cornwall and Devon. In Cornwall it's made with both pork and beef, but in Devon it tends to be made with beef.

Here, I am presenting the Cornish pork version. But, if you wish to make it with beef, just substitute for the beef for the pork and cook the meat for 120 minutes, or until tender, rather than 80 minutes.

The seaweed used is laver, beloved over the Bristol channel in South Wales. Laver is salty and has an unusual flavour that marries well with mutton, lamb, beef and pork (it is used as a traditional breakfast cake mixed with oatmeal in Wales and is made into a sauce for lamb). Laver or laverbread are red algae of the Porphyria spp family boiled town to a thick paste.

Ingredients:

2kg (2 1/2 lbs) pork leg meat, cut into 3cm (1 in) cubes
3 tbsp bacon fat or beef dripping
450g (1 lb) prepared laver (see the Laver Bread recipe for how to make this from scratch)
1l (4 cups) home-made meat stock
6 tbsp plain flour
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

For the Pastry:
225g (1/2 lb) self-raising flour
110g (1/4 lb) butter
4 tsp dried parsley flakes
4 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
4 tsp fresh sage, finely chopped
225g (1/2 lb) fresh mashed potato
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water, to glaze

Method:

Season the plain flour and toss the pork cubes in this to coat. Melt the bacon fat or beef dripping in a pan, add the pork pieces and fry (in batches) until nicely browned all over. When all the meat is coloured return to the pan and stir in the laver and meat stock. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer then cover the pot and cook gently for about 80 minutes, or until the meat is completely tender.

In the meantime, prepare the pastry. Sift the flour into a bowl, add the finely-diced butter and rub into the flour until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add the herbs and then knead in the mashed potato. Cover the bowl with clingfilm (plastic wrap) and set aside to chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

When the meat is cooked and tender, turn the mixture into a large, deep, pie dish. Turn the pastry out onto a lightly-floured work surface and roll out until large enough to cover the meat. Use the pastry to line the top of the pie dish. Crimp the edges and trim off the excess. Use the left-over pastry to form decorations then form a small hole in the centre to allow steam to escape.

Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 200ºC and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the pastry is cooked and golden brown. Serve hot, accompanied by potatoes and boiled or steamed vegetables.