Paste for Raised Pies
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the dough
Put the flour and salt in a warm bowl and let it sit near the fire until dry and warm.
Boil the lard and water for 5 minutes.
Pour the boiled lard and water into the center of the flour.
Mix with a spoon until cool enough to knead.
Knead the mixture well, keeping it warm.
Rest and use
Let it sit near the fire for about 1 hour.
Re-knead the paste.
Use it immediately.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the dough once combined with the liquid and kneaded.
- Lard
- Adds fat that keeps the crust tender and short.
- Water
- Hydrates the flour and, boiled with the lard, lets the dough be worked while warm.
The step that matters
Pouring the boiled lard and water into the flour. The liquid must be boiling hot when it meets the flour so the starch partly gelatinises, which helps the dough hold its shape and stay pliable. Kneading while it stays warm keeps the fat soft and the paste workable.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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