Ingredients

Step by step

1. Start the day before serving. For the pastry, mix the flour and salt in a large bowl, make a well and add the beaten egg then mix briefly. Put 125ml water, the butter and lard into a saucepan and place on a medium heat. Once the liquid is boiling, pour it onto the flour, mixing with a knife as you go. Knead until smooth.
2. Line a 900g loaf tin (10cm x 20cm base measurement) with baking paper, then add another double-thickness strip of paper across the tin, the ends over-hanging, to act as a handle for lifting the pie out later.
3. While the pastry is still warm, roll out two-thirds of it on a floured surface. Press this into the base and sides of the tin. Don’t worry if it tears, just press it together; it is very forgiving. Chill while you make the filling. Wrap the remaining pastry and put aside at room temperature.
4. Boil the eggs for 7 minutes, drain and cool under cold running water. Roughly chop the gammon, chicken and bacon; pulse in a food processor until coarsely chopped (be careful not to over-process). Tip into a bowl and mix in the spring onions, herbs, zest, and nutmeg. Season with black pepper then set aside. Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6 and put a baking tray in to get hot.
5. Peel the eggs then trim off the excess white at the top and bottom of each egg, to ensure that every slice will contain yolk. Press a third of the meat mixture into the pastry-lined tin, add the eggs down the centre (end-to-end), then cover with the remaining meat mixture.
6. Brush the edges of the pie with beaten egg. Roll out the reserved pastry for a lid, lift on top, trim and pinch to seal. Use the trimmings to make decorations.
7. Glaze with beaten egg. Make a small round hole in the lid and add a cylindrical ‘chimney’ made from baking paper, to allow the meat juices to bubble up.
8. Place on the hot baking tray and bake for 15 minutes initially, then turn the oven down to 160°C, fan 140°C, gas 3 and cook for a further 1 hour 45 minutes.
9. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin (at least 3 hours). Chill overnight to set. Lift the pie out of the tin, using the baking paper ‘handle’. Use a serrated knife to slice neatly. The pie keeps for up to 4 days, chilled.
   How to transport to a picnic

   Loosen and lift the pie from its loaf tin before from its loaf tin before you leave home, but then return it to the tin for easy transportation. Take a serving plate or board and a serrated knife to slice it with, plus knife to slice it with, plus any chutneys or pickles to serve alongside.

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