Leftover Roast Meat Pie

Hi everyone - I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Ours was pretty quiet and relaxed - which was nice for a change, I guess. Boxing day was even more relaxed - plenty of leftovers to eat, nothing much to do except take the kids for a swim at the lake and sit around reading books and having naps... ah, dolce far niente!* 

This pie is a great way to use up leftover roast, gravy and vegies. This one was made with roast beef and veges, but you can use lamb, chicken, turkey - even ham with a white sauce instead of gravy. When I cook a roast I always use the pan juices to make lots of gravy, so I have plenty for pies the next day.

I've used lard in my pastry to keep it dairy free (I'd rather lard than any man-made 'plastic' butter substitutes!), but you can use butter if you'd rather, or a mixture of butter and lard. The lard makes the pastry very stretchy and easy to work with - you can pick up the rolled out dough and it won't break! It's very easy to make in the Thermomix, but if you don't feel like bothering with pastry, (or you are gluten free), you can make mashed potatoes or rice and serve the filling over that.

This recipe makes two pies in standard sized pie dishes - you can halve it if you only have a little bit of leftover roast and vegies.

[Note: if you're unsure about lard, check out this website to find out why it's better than margarine.]

First, make the pastry:

1. Grind on speed 9 for 1 minute:
- 200g spelt grain

2. Add and mix on speed 6 for about 10 secs:
- 300g unbleached plain spelt flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 200g chilled lard (and/or butter), chopped in pieces
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt

3. Add and knead on interval speed for 10-20 seconds until dough is formed:
- 100g chilled water (unless using all lard, then it's not necessary to chill the water)
- a good squeeze fresh lemon juice
(may need more water or flour, until dough is right consistency for rolling out)

4. If using butter, wrap in plastic bag and place in fridge to chill while you cook the filling. If using lard, no need to chill the dough, unless you won't be using it straight away - it will be easier to work with at room temperature.

The Filling:

5. Clean out bowl and chop garlic on speed 7 for 3 seconds:
- 1 clove garlic

6. Add and chop on speed 5 for 3 seconds:
- 1 onion, quartered
- 1 carrot, quartered
- 1 stick of celery, quartered
(can add more vegies if you don't have many leftovers)

7. Add oil and cook for 3 minutes, 100 degrees, speed 1:
- 30g olive oil

8. Add, and chop on speed 3 for 10 seconds:
- 150g whole mushrooms, raw (opt.)

9. Cook for 2 minutes, 100 degrees, speed 1.
Add about 1 kg leftover roast meat (cubed) and leftover cooked vegies (roughly chopped) and any leftover gravy. (I sometimes add a bit of leftover mashed potato or rice too.)


10. Top bowl up with water, to the 2 litre mark. Add:
- 2 Tblspns cornflour/rice flour/spelt flour
- 1 Tblspn vege stock concentrate or stock powder (or to taste)
- salt and pepper (to taste)
Cook for 10 minutes, 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.
(Add more cornflour if needed to thicken.)

11. While cooking, divide dough in half and roll out on a lightly floured bread mat, making a large circle about 5 mm thick. Pick up with the rolling pin (see picture) and drape over pie dish. Repeat with other half of dough. Press into dish, then when filling is cooked, place half the filling inside each crust and flop the sides over the filling to make a free form pie. (Alternatively, you can divide dough into four pieces and roll them out to make a base and top for each pie.)


12. Cook for 30 - 40 minutes in moderate oven (180 C) or until pastry is lightly browned. Set aside to cool for a few minutes before slicing. Pies may be frozen once cooled, and reheated in the oven.

* P.S. 'Dolce far niente' means 'sweet doing nothing' in Italian - it's the name of a painting I love!