Savoury Meat Pie (Torta Salata alla Carne)

This is something perfect for the full summer, it can be served at room temperature and it's packed with proteins and vegetables. It's an all-in-one dish, so it's also fantastic for any picnic. Enveloped in a brisée pastry that's a breeze to make!

Ingredients:

The Brisée Pastry is purely made of flour, butter, and water. The butter will always be 1/2 the quantity of the flour, the water will always be 1/2 the quantity of the butter. That's it!

Note: as flour absorbs water differently according to the brand and the room temperature, keep some additional iced water available, but never exceed 3/5ths of the weight of the butter.

• 450gr flour (for a 24cm baking tin, including a full pastry lid cover)

• 225gr very cold butter

• 112gr very cold (ice-cold) water (today I have added 18gr = slightly less than 3/5ths of the weight of the butter today)

• 1 tsp salt

• 2 blond or white onions (do not use red onions as they're too sweet)

• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil

• 150gr cubed streaky rashers or pancetta

• 500gr minced beef meat

• 500gr frozen spinach

• 4 eggs

• 80gr grated parmesan

• 3 tsp nutmeg

• 3 tsp fresh ground black pepper

• 1 pinch of salt if needed (at the end)

Method:

• Put the flour in a mixer with the salt and the very cold butter in rough cubes

• Mix on high speed but just enough for it all to be a sandy crumble

• Tip it onto your kitchen counter, add the initial measured water and knead it just long enough for it to come together in a ball

• Add more water only if needed (keeping in mind the note above) and do not overwork this pastry at all

• Wrap it tight in cling film and put it in the fridge for 1 hour (or up to 1 day, or freeze it)

• Dice the onions and stir fry them in the oil, taking care that they don't brown

• Halfway through add the rashers / pancetta and continue to cook till the end, taking great care that it does not become crispy

• Add the minced meat and break it down quite carefully so that there are no lumps remaining - it should cook well and reabsorb any liquid

• Add the nutmeg and black pepper and stir well

• Add the frozen spinach, mix and cover, let it cook on medium heat for a bit

• Stir the mixture every now and then to ensure the spinach defrost properly, it does not need to super-cook, just to be defrosted until all water is released

• Uncover the pan and stir every now and then until the full mixture is quite dry

• Leave it to cool down to room temperature

• Add the parmesan and stir it well

• Take 3 eggs and beat them lightly, then add them to the cold mixture

• At this point taste for salt and add to taste if needed

• Take out the pastry from the fridge and preheat the oven at 200 degrees C (fan)

• Take out 2/3 of the pastry and roll it between two sheets of baking paper, until it reaches the dimensions of your tin including the sides

• Transfer the bottom baking paper sheet with your rolled out pastry directly into your baking tin

• Lightly press down the bottom near the sides so that you get a proper pastry casing and leave the sides untrimmed

• Roll out the leftover pastry between two sheets of baking paper and leave it aside

• Pour the mixture into your pastry case and level it with the back of a spoon

• Peel off the top baking paper sheet from the rolled out "lid" and top it down into your baking tin, then peel off carefully the other baking paper sheet

• At this point trim the pastry "lid" around the sides, very close to the sides themselves

• Last, trim the sides of the case so that you can crimp them against the edge of the lid

• Score the top with a sharp knife making a few cuts so that it can breathe and cook

• Lightly beat the last egg, and use it to brush the full pie

• Lower the oven temperature to 190 degrees C and put it into the middle shelf of the oven for 30 minutes

• When ready, take it out and leave it to reach room temperature in the baking tin, then remove it from the tin and serve