Beef and egg picnic pie

You will need one 2lb loaf tin.

Ingredients

• 1 packet of pre-rolled all butter puff pastry
• 4 eggs, soft boiled and shelled
• 2 leeks, finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 2 sausages, skinned
• 500g British beef mince (at least 10% fat)
• 1 tsp of wholegrain mustard
• 1 tbsp of onion chutney
• 1 tbsp of tomato puree
• A pinch of chilli flakes
• A pinch of nutmeg
• Salt and pepper
• A small handful of fresh herbs, finely chopped
• 1-2 tbsp of chopped gherkins

Method

1. Boil the eggs for about eight minutes, leave to cool in cold water then shell.
2. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
3. Cook the leeks in the oil and butter until they are soft, and put to one side.
4. Put the beef, sausage-meat, garlic, mustard, onion chutney, tomato puree, herbs, nutmeg, chilli flakes, gherkins and salt and pepper into a bowl. Add the cooked leeks and mix well to evenly distribute the ingredients.
5. Put baking paper in the tin. Lay the puff pastry sheet long-ways across the loaf tin on top of the baking paper.
6. Put a thick layer (about a third) of the meat mixture onto the pastry in the tin. Lay the eggs on top then use the remaining mixture to fill around the eggs and layer on top.
7. Bring together the two short ends of the pastry and gently pull together so the pastry is quite firm around the filling. Wet your finger with a little water and run it along the pastry where it will join (this will help it to seal) then crimp, pinch together to make a pleated seal.
8. Put the loaf tin onto a baking tray.
9. Beat an egg in a cup with a fork and brush the top of the pie generously with the beaten egg.
10. Put into the oven to bake for 35-40 minutes.
11. Leave to cool and stand in the tin for at least an hour before lifting it out and slicing. This pie keeps well in the fridge for a few days and it tastes even better after its chilled overnight.