How to make next level turkey & ham pie

Shop-bought pastry is convenient, but nothing beats the crumbly and short texture of homemade. This pastry is made with some special added ingredients that you can’t find in ready-made versions.

2. Two fats are better than one

Butter adds flavour and crispness to pastry and suet makes it crumbly and rich, so we’ve added them both in different proportions. This makes a delicious pastry that’s really easy to work.

3. Add some sage

The pastry is cleverly and easily peppered with dried sage as a nod to the classic turkey stuffing flavour. Dried thyme or some nigella seeds for an onion flavour would also work well with this herb.

4. Throw in some leeks

Leeks are in season and add a mild onion flavour to the filling. It's a classic pairing with both turkey and ham. The key is to cook them very gently and slowly at the beginning so they soften into the filling.

5. Mustard is a must

To give the sauce some body and texture but not too much heat, we’ve gone with a large spoonful of wholegrain mustard, which pairs well with ham.

6. Choose the right tin

Rather than a specialist pie tin, we’ve used a 20cm spring-form cake tin, which is a lot easier to find, works well for optimum pie release which in turn gives you a much more majestic, free-standing, finished centrepiece pie.

7. Using leftovers

This pie which takes a considerable amount of leftover ham and turkey. Tweak the size to suit the amount of leftover meats you have and if you haven’t cooked both ham and turkey then either meat would work just as well on its own.

Find more recipes for leftover turkey and ham.

8. Proper pie

There’s nothing wrong with a pastry topped ‘pie’ but for this we’ve gone with a fully encased in pastry version that can be easily portioned for serving.

9. Get creative

The pastry is malleable so feel free to get creative with the decoration. We’ve crowned our pie with festive leaves and pastry rope.

Get more inspiration for how to decorate a pie.

10. Hot or cold

Different types of pie are eaten either hot or cold but here we’ve created one for all occasions that would eat as happily as a hot main as it would at room temperature as part help-yourself festive spread.

See the full recipe for our next level turkey & ham pie.

Find more perfect pie recipes...

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Game pie recipes
Sweet pie recipes
Vegetarian pie recipes
Pie recipes
How to cook with pastry
11 super-easy ways to decorate a pie

For more festive food inspiration, see our Christmas kitchen hub page.