Pithivier with braised lamb shoulder

A delicious savoury braised lamb pie that takes its name from the town of Pithiviers.

• serves

  4

• prep

  45 minutes

• cook

  6 hours

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg lamb shoulder, bone in
• Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 onion, peeled and quartered
• 1 carrot, peeled and halved lengthways
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 head garlic
• 6 sprigs thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 litre chicken stock

Pithivier

• 50 g butter
• 2 celery stalks, cut into 1 cm dice
• 1 carrot, cut into 1 cm dice
• 1 onion, cut into 1 cm dice
• 2 sheets good quality butter puff pastry
• 2 egg yolks, lightly beaten

Chilling time: 2 hours

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 150˚C.
2. Season the lamb shoulder with salt and pepper. Scatter the vegetables, garlic and herbs over the bottom of a deep baking dish, then place the lamb on top. Place the stock in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, then pour over the lamb. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 5 hours or until the lamb is soft and falling off the bone.
3. Remove the lamb from the pan and set aside until cool enough to handle.
4. Meanwhile, strain the cooking liquid, discard the solids, then place in a saucepan and simmer over high heat until reduced to a jus consistency.
5. When cool enough to handle, use your hands to remove the lamb from the bone and coarsely shred the meat, discarding any excess fat as you go.
6. For the pithivier, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the diced vegetables and cook for about 3 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Add the shredded lamb and stir to coat, then add the jus and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and season to taste.
7. Line a 15 cm bowl with plastic wrap, allowing some wrap to extend past the edges of the bowl. Add the pithivier mix, press down firmly, cover with extending edges of plastic wrap, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour or for up to 3 days.
8. Place one sheet of puff pastry on a baking paper lined baking tray and use a fork to prick all over a circle about 15cm in diameter, in the middle of the sheet. This stops the pastry puffing up during cooking. Brush the area outside the circle with egg yolk and invert the moulded lamb onto the centre of the pastry. Place the other sheet of pastry on top and press down to seal the edges, removing any excess air as you go. Cut a 30 cm circle and remove any excess pastry.
9. Using the back of a small knife, score the pressed-together edge of the pie and then score curved lines into the dome. Cut a 1 cm circle of pastry out of the centre of the dome to allow steam to escape during cooking. You can use a scrap of pastry to create a little chimney at the top, around the hole. Brush the top with egg yolk. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
10. Preheat oven to 200˚C.
11. Bake the pithivier for 35 minutes or until golden and crisp on the top and base. Serve hot.

Photography by Blink TV. Styling by Blink TV. Food preparation by Guillaume Brahimi.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.