Little Raised Pork Pies is a traditional British recipe, based on Mrs Beeton's recipe of 1861, for a classic miniature pork pie made from a pastry of flour and melted butter and suet filled with pork seasoned with sage and oven baked until golden and cooked through. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Little Raised Pork Pies.
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This is a traditional British recipe redacted from the redoubtable Mrs Beeton's 1861 volume Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, the classic Victorian cookbook.
Original Recipe
LITTLE RAISED PORK PIES.
836. INGREDIENTS.—2 lbs. of flour, 1/2 lb. of butter, 1/2 lb. of mutton suet, salt and white pepper to taste, 4 lbs. of the neck of pork, 1 dessertspoonful of powdered sage.
Mode.—Well dry the flour, mince the suet, and put these with the butter into a saucepan, to be made hot, and add a little salt. When melted, mix it up into a stiff paste, and put it before the fire with a cloth over it until ready to make up; chop the pork into small pieces, season it with white pepper, salt, and powdered sage; divide the paste into rather small pieces, raise it in a round or oval form, fill with the meat, and bake in a brick oven. These pies will require a fiercer oven than those in the preceding recipe, as they are made so much smaller, and consequently do not require so soaking a heat.
Time.—If made small, about 1-1/2 hour.
Seasonable from September to March.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
900g plain flour
225g butter
225g mutton or beef suet, minced
salt and freshly-ground white pepper, to taste
1.8kg neck of pork, meat chopped into small pieces
1 dessert spoon dried sage, powdered
Method:
Sift the flour into a warmed bowl. In the meantime, combine the butter and suet in a pan. Heat until melted then form a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the suet and butter mix. Season with a little flour and work together into a stiff dough.
Season the pork with salt, white pepper and powdered sage then divide the pastry into small pieces and use your hands to raise into small round or oval forms. Fill the raised pies with the meat, use a small piece of pastry to form a lid then trim off any excess pastry. Transfer to a lightly-greased baking tray and use a sharp knife to cut a steam hole.
Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180°C and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the pies are cooked through. Allow to cool before serving.
