Sausage, apple and onion lattice pie

This is a really flavoursome pie that we created with some left over sausages and a few apples. Perfect as autumn approaches! Helen’s mum supplied some home grown apples but any type of sweet apple that you have in the fruit bowl will work well. Whatever apple you choose, just be aware that certain apples like Royal Gala will break down more than a firmer type such as Pink Lady. You can use plain or flavoured pork sausages, it’s up to you, but we had some tasty, caramelised onion flavoured sausages from the butchers which were delicious! We also used some ready-made pastry for this mid-week pie but if you have the time, feel free to get your bake on and show off your pastry skills!

Prep time: 15 – 20 minutes

Cooking time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 2 apples, peeled and cubed
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
• 1 tsp sage
• 1 tsp brown Demerara sugar
• salt and pepper
• splash whiskey
• 6-8 sausages
• 400g pack of ready-made pastry
• 1 egg, lightly beaten to glaze

Serves 4 people

Cooking instructions

1. Make the pie filling

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Gently fry the chopped onions in a little olive oil over a low to medium heat for a few minutes until soft. Once the onions become translucent and soft, add the garlic, sage and mustard, and stir through. Add the apples, sugar and a splash of whiskey to the mix and stir. Cook on a low heat and allow the flavours to combine. Once the apple mix is a little mushy, transfer to a bowl and allow to cool.

2. Prepare the sausages

Add a little more olive oil to the same frying pan and bring the heat up to medium. Cut each sausage into 3-4 chunks and transfer to the frying pan. Partially fry the sausages for a couple of minutes to add colour. You do not need to fully cook the sausages as they will cook in the oven. Transfer the sausages to the apple mix and stir. Season with salt and pepper and leave aside.

3. Prepare the pastry and make the pie

Roll out the ready-made pastry onto a floured board. Roll to a thickness of about 5mm, and to a size big enough to line your pastry dish. Carefully lift the pastry, making sure not to create any holes or cracks, and transfer it to the pie dish. You may find it easier to lift the pastry using your rolling pin to support the weight. Gently press the pastry into the dish and cut off any excess around the edge of the dish. Scoop the filling into the middle of the pastry base and smooth into a mound. Leave a 20mm gap of pastry at the sides if possible.

To make the lattice top, remould all the excess pastry into a ball and roll into a rectangle. Cut the pastry into even strips of about 15mm wide. Brush a little egg around the edges of the pastry base to sick the lattice to. Place the strips evenly across the pie, leaving a 10-15mm gap between each strip. Place the first vertical strip at the left edge and weave it under and over the horizontal strips. Leave a 10-15mm gap and repeat the process, this time working alternately to the previous strip. Continue until the weaved lattice covers the top of the pie and trim the edges of each of the strips. Brush some egg around the entire edge of the pie again and fold over about 10mm of the edges to encase the lattice top and filling. Brush egg gently over the lattice top.

4. Bake the pie and enjoy!

Place the glazed pie in the preheated oven and cook for around 20 minutes. Now, lower the temperature to 180°C and cook for a further 20 minutes until the pie is cooked through, golden and crispy.

Allow the pie to cool slightly before you serve as the filling will be boiling hot. And after all, good things come to those who wait :-). Check out our other posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.