This recipe came about because I had quite a few apples and pears that I needed to use up in the galley. I happened to have a pot of mulled wine on the stove at the time and so, feeling festive I peeled the pears and dropped them into the wine to poach. This pie has been a hit with the crew. It’s a family sized pie so it’s less faff than making them individually, giving you more time to sit back with a nice mug of mulled wine while you wait for it to cook. I used ready made pastry for convenience and edible gold glitter spray from Lakeland to serve to give the pie a festive shimmer.
Serves 8-10
Ingredients
1 pack 280g short crust pastry (sold in a roll and is circular when laid out)
1 pack 280g puff pastry (sold in a roll and is circular when laid out)
3 whole pears, peeled, cored and halved
2 small golden delicious apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 1.5cm chunks
800g mincemeat
Zest of one tangerine
2 heaped tablespoons brown sugar
1 egg yolk and a dash of milk (to make an egg wash for the pastry)
Mulled wine for poaching the pears
Butter for greasing
Method
Place the pear halves in the mulled wine and poach for about an hour. They should take on the lovely red colour of the wine. Leave them in the wine until you are ready to assemble the pie.
Take a 28cm pie or tart dish and using the butter and some kitchen roll, spread the butter evenly around the dish, getting into every crevice. This will stop the pastry sticking to the dish later on.
Place the short crust pastry in the greased dish making sure it is laid out evenly. Take some greaseproof paper then lay it on top of the pastry. Pour some dried beans or rice on top of the pastry to weigh it down and bake for about 20 minutes at 180C until the edge of the pastry becomes a very pale golden colour. This is called “blind baking”.
Remove the baked short crust pastry from the oven and set aside on a trivet to protect your work surface. Gently remove the baking paper and dried beans or rice and set them aside somewhere to cool.
To assemble the pie spread the chopped apples evenly around the base of the pie. Using a slotted spoon, remove the pears from the mulled wine and slice them into thirds. Add these to the pie along with the mincemeat, tangerine zest, sprinkled brown sugar and finally the puff pasty. Whisk the egg yolk and a dash of milk together in a mug with a fork then using a pastry brush, coat the puff pastry with the egg wash.
Place the pie dish on a baking tray to avoid any spillage which might make a mess at the bottom of the oven. Cook at 180C for about 40 minutes or until the pastry is a nice, golden colour. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for at least half an hour before serving. Serve with some double cream and a hot mug of mulled wine.
