Pork Pies Recipe
- For filling:
- 1 pound lean ground pork
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried savory, crumbled
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- For pastry:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening
- 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- Accompaniment:
- Spicy tomato cranberry preserves
- Cook pork with onion, garlic, savory, salt, allspice, and pepper in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat, stirring frequently and breaking up lumps with a fork, until pork is no longer pink, 5 to 7 minutes. Sprinkle with flour and cook, stirring, until thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Cool filling completely.
- Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Blend in shortening and butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add milk and stir with a fork just until a dough forms. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead 10 to 12 times. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a rough 18-inch round (1/8 inch thick), dusting with just enough additional flour to keep dough from sticking. Cut out 24 rounds with 3-inch cutter and 24 leaves with leaf-shaped cutter. Make decorative lines on leaves with tip of a sharp paring knife.
- Fit each round into a muffin cup and fill with a rounded tablespoon of filling. Arrange leaves on filling.
- Bake pies until crusts are golden, 15 to 17 minutes. Lift pies out of muffin cups and transfer to a rack. Cool to warm, about 15 minutes.
