Roberta Hall-McCarron’s perfect pie recipes
Published 06 March 2026

Rough puff pastry

(makes about 800g)

500g plain flour
250g cold salted butter, diced small
2 tbsp milk
3 medium egg yolks

1. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or by hand in a bowl, mix the flour and butter together until it forms a breadcrumb texture.

2. Beat the milk and egg yolks with 80ml water and add it in, then mix until everything is just combined. Turn the dough out on to the worktop and finish it with your hands. Shape the dough into a rectangle, then cut it in half and wrap each piece in cling film.

3. Put in the fridge to rest for at least an hour.
   

   

   Potato, Tallegio and butternut squash pie

   This recipe benefits from allowing the gratin to press overnight, but can also be made on the day.

   ½ quantity rough puff pastry (see recipe above)
   125ml milk
   300ml cream
   ½ bulb garlic
   10g thyme
   625g Red Rooster potatoes (peeled and cut into 1mm slices)
   350g butternut squash (peeled and cut into 1mm slices) 
   120g Tallegio 

   1. Make the rough puff pastry. Split dough into two pieces – one weighing about 100g. Shape both pieces into cylinders and wrap in cling film. Place in the fridge to rest. 

   2. Preheat your oven to 170°C. 

   3. Place the milk, cream, garlic and thyme in a pot and take to a simmer. Remove from heat and leave to infuse for 15 minutes. 

   4. Season the potato and butternut squash with salt and black pepper. 

   5. Place the potato in an even layer in the bottom of an ovenproof tray, followed by a layer of butternut squash; repeat until all the potato and butternut squash is used. 

   6. Strain the cream mix through a sieve and pour over the potato and squash. 

   7. Place in the over for about 1 hour until cooked. Allow to cool, place a sheet of baking paper on top, place another tray on top with some weight added and press overnight. 

   8. A small bowl (14cm diameter, 8cm height) is the best shape to use to mould the filling for the pie.

   9. Line the mould with cling film – make sure to have some extra to hang over the edge.

   10. Place 240g of gratin in the base, then 120g of Tallegio, and then another 240g of gratin – add in a little more of there’s space and press into the mould. Fold the cling film over the top and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up slightly. 

   11. Preheat your oven to 180°C. 

   12. In the meantime, roll out your pastry to around 0.5cm thickness (the smaller piece is the base of the pie). Once rolled, take the filling out of the fridge and open up the cling film. Place the open side of the bowl on top of the pastry, remove the bowl and carefully peel the cling film away. Egg wash the pastry around the filling and take the larger piece of rolled pastry and place it on top of the filling; using your hands, carefully mould it around the filling, making sure there are no air pockets. Use a large ring or bowl (about 17cm) to cut away any excess pastry and neaten up the lip at the bottom - you want a 1.5cm lip. Keep the pastry trim. If you have a slightly larger bowl that fits over the filling and pastry, place it on top and either use a knife or something similar to push the pastry lip in until the knife hits the bowl. Do this all the way round, leaving a space of about 1cm between each one. 

   13. Egg wash the pie, leave it for 10 minutes and egg wash again. Using the pastry trim cut a circle 3-4cm diameter and place on top of the pie in the centre. 

   14. Use a skewer and make a 1cm diameter hole in the circle – this is for a chimney. 

   15. Use a small (paring/turning) knife to make scores on the pastry (as pictured); only apply gentle pressure to make a mark but not cut all the way through. Start at the top and curve down. 

   16. Insert a chimney into the hole at the top (you can make a tinfoil chimney by wrapping it around a pen).

   17. Place it on a preheated tray in the oven, and bake for 25-30 mins until golden brown and piping hot. 

       Braised beef and caramelised onion pie

       The filling can be made the day before and used cold – in fact, the whole pie can be made the day before and kept in the fridge until you’re ready to cook it. You’ll need a 27cm diameter ceramic pie dish. Have fun with the pastry decorating! The key to golden pastry is a good egg wash – just egg yolk and a tiny splash of cream.

       1kg beef cheeks
       2½ tbsp sunflower oil
       2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
       1 celery stick, roughly chopped
       ½ a garlic bulb
       2 bay leaves
       20g thyme
       2L beef stock
       200ml red wine
       20 baby or silverskin onions, halved
       300g celeriac, peeled and cut into 5mm dice
       10 onions, thinly sliced
       16 slices of pancetta (you can also use Parma ham or prosciutto)
       Salt
       1 quantity rough puff pastry (see recipe, above)
       4 egg yolks, beaten
       Splash of double cream
       Sea salt
       

       1. Season the beef cheeks, then sear them in a hot pan with a tablespoon of the oil, getting a nice colour on each side. Transfer to a deep pot. 

       2. Add the roughly chopped carrots and celery to the beef along with the unpeeled garlic, bay leaves and half the thyme sprigs.

       3. Pour over the beef stock and red wine and bring to a simmer, then cook gently until the meat is tender, about 4 to 5 hours. Keep checking after 4 hours – the cheeks are ready when the meat pulls away easily.

       4. Meanwhile, make the rough puff pastry, then split it into three pieces, one weighing 500g and the other two split evenly. Shape into flattish discs and wrap them individually in cling film. Leave to rest for a couple of hours in the fridge.

       5. When the cheeks are ready, remove them from the liquid with a slotted spoon and leave until cool enough to handle. With your hands, pick through the beef cheeks, removing any pieces of sinew and tearing the meat into 4cm pieces. 

       6. Pass the cooking liquid through a sieve into a pot. Add the halved baby onions to the beef cooking liquid and bring up to a simmer, then gently braise for 20 minutes until they are soft. Strain the baby onions and set them aside, then pass the cooking liquid through a sieve into a pot. Reduce the liquid to about 350ml, with a thicker sauce consistency. Check the seasoning.

       7. In a wide pan, sauté the celeriac dice with a pinch of salt in ½ tablespoon of oil until cooked through. Mix together the beef cheeks, braised baby onions, cooked celeriac and reduced sauce, then add the picked leaves of the remaining thyme. You can keep this in the fridge until you are ready to make the pie.

       8. For the caramelised onions, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a sauce pot, then add the thinly sliced onions and a couple of pinches of salt. Cook down over a medium heat for about an hour until the onions are golden brown and very soft. Keep stirring from time to time and lower the heat if it looks like anything is burning. Set aside.

       9. Preheat your oven to 180°C fan.

       10. Now build your pie. On a floured worktop, roll the 500g piece of pastry out so it is 5mm thick and large enough to line the pie dish with a little hanging over the sides. Wrap it over your rolling pin to transfer it to your dish, and gently press it into place. 

       11. Line the pastry with the pancetta: imagine your dish is a clock, then put one piece of pancetta pointing to 12 o’clock with the thin end of the rasher in the middle of the dish and the other end overlapping the edge. Put another one pointing to 3 o’clock, then one to 6 and one to 9. Using the same method, fill in the gaps so there is no pastry left visible.

       12. Add half of the beef cheek filling and smooth it flat with a spatula, then put in the caramelised onions and smooth them out. Cover the onions with the rest of the beef cheek filling, then fold the ends of the pancetta back over the top. 

       13. Make an egg wash by beating together the egg yolks and cream, then brush plenty of it around the sides of the pastry.

       14. Roll out one of the remaining pieces of pastry to get a circle about 30cm in diameter (a little bigger than your pie dish) and 2-3mm thick. Lay it on top of the pie and pinch the pastry edges together. 

       15. Brush the top with another thick layer of egg wash. Finally, roll out the last bit of pastry and cut out whatever shapes you like to decorate the top of the pie. 

       16. When the decorations are in place, give everything a final egg wash and sprinkle with some sea salt flakes.

       17. Bake the pie for 45 minutes and allow it to sit for 10 minutes before serving.
           

           

           Ham hock, leek and wholegrain mustard pie

           Pastry
           500g plain flour
           250g cold salted butter, diced
           50g egg yolk
           30ml milk
           80ml water

           Filling
           2 smoked ham hocks
           3 carrots, peeled and cut into 5cm pieces
           1 onion, peeled and quartered
           1 leek (green and white parts separated)
           5 peppercorns
           1 bunch thyme
           2 tbsp whole grain mustard
           30g plain flour
           30g butter
           400ml ham hock stock
           50ml cream
           40g parsley, picked and diced
           40g egg yolk

           1. Combine the flour and butter in a stand mixer. 

           2. Add in the milk, water and egg. Mix until it just starts to come together then finish by hand until everything is fully incorporated.

           3. Divide into 3 pieces – 1 x 200g, 1x 100g & 1x 350g. Wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for 2 hours. 

           4. Meanwhile, make the filling. Cover the ham hocks with cold water, and bring to the boil. Skim off any impurities.

           5. Add in the carrots, onion, coarsely diced green leek, thyme and peppercorns. Gently simmer until the meat is tender.

           6. Remove the ham from the pot and pass the stock through a sieve into another container. 

           7. Once the ham hocks have cooled down, pick the meat into small pieces.

           8. Quarter the white parts of the leeks lengthways, slice the quarters into 1cm pieces.

           9. Sweat the leeks in a little butter, until softened. Allow to cool, then mix them into the ham. Add the mustard and mix. 

           10. In the same pan used to cook the leeks, melt the butter, then add the flour and cook gently stirring regularly for about 10 mins.

           11. Gradually start adding the stock, whisking continuously. Finish by adding in the cream.

           12. Pour some of this ham hock sauce into the meat mix and stir until fully incorporated. Keep adding the sauce until all of the meat is coated, but it’s not too liquid. Add in the chopped parsley.

           13. Using a 15cm pie or cake tin, line it with two layers of cling film – allow for extra to go over the sides.

           14. Pour the mix into the lined tin, and flatten, then fold over the cling film. Place in the fridge to firm up for 3-4 hours.

           15. Roll out your pastry to 3mm thickness. Cut your base from the 200g piece of pastry – cut a 20cm diameter circle and place on top of a piece of greaseproof paper, then place on to a tray.

           16. Cut your top from the 350g piece of pastry – a 29cm diameter circle. Use the last piece for any decoration.  

           17. Brush the base pastry with the egg yolk, unwrap the ham mix and place on top in the centre.

           18. Place the larger piece of pastry over the top and mould the pastry around it. Using the 20cm ring, cut the pastry edge to neaten – you still want an excess of approx 2cm that you can crimp.

           19. Brush the pie with egg wash and crimp the edges. 

           20. In the centre of the pie, pierce a hole (so you can place a tinfoil chimney in it). Decorate with extra pastry cut into shapes, and brush with egg wash.

           21. Bake for 40 mins at 180°C.