(Photo credit: Jerry Coyne)
See my last post for the reason for this digression from politics, history, current events etc into recipes. However, though it’s only been a few minutes since my first recipe post, it appears to be very popular. I may have to do more of them!
In New Zealand, meat pies are a perennial favourite, usually mince and cheese or steak and kidney. When I was a kid I didn’t take to meat pies. I’ve didn’t like any type of offal so steak and kidney was out for me. As for mince and cheese, in the past they were often full of fat, gristle and jelly. They’re not like that now, but I never got the taste so I’m a very unusual New Zealander in that I don’t eat mince pies.
I’ve always been a fan of bacon and egg pies though, even when that’s all they contain. However in my opinion, bacon and egg pies are much improved by the addition of other ingredients. My late father always made an excellent bacon and egg pie, so most of my ideas come from him. Cooked potato, d=for example, makes a surprisingly tasty addition.
Bacon and Egg Pie
Ingredients
* 2 sheets flaky puff pastry
* 8-12 eggs
* 6-8 rashers bacon, rind removed
* 1-2 tomatoes, chopped
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1 cup frozen mixed veges (whatever combination you like best)
* 2-4 cooked potatoes, chopped
* seasoning to taste
The quantity of ingredients depends on the size of your pie dish. The pie I made for Jerry was in a 20 cm/8 inch square dish. It had 8 eggs and six rashers of bacon.
Method
Base
1. Preheat oven to 180° C/350° F.
2. Spray pie dish with non-stick spray or grease well with margarine or butter.
3. Roll out pastry on well-floured board. Place in dish so it covers the base and sides of the dish. Trim off excess pastry.Filling
4. Break half the eggs into bottom of dish. Don’t break the yolks, but it doesn’t matter if they do break.
5. Lay half the rashers of bacon across the eggs. Chop the bacon into smaller pieces if you prefer.
6. Spread potatoes, tomatoes, onion, mixed veges into dish.
7. Lay rest of bacon on top.
8. Keeping one egg aside, break the remaining eggs onto the bacon.
9. Break the last egg into a cup and whisk well. Pour most of the last egg into the pie but keep enough to spread onto the top of the covering pastry. (You won’t need much.)Top
10. Roll out the second sheet of pastry and use it to cover the pie. Press down well all around the edge using a fork and trim off the excess.
11. Prick multiple holes in the top sheet of pastry with the fork.
11. Spread the beaten egg all over the pastry.
12. If you’re feeling artistic, make some shapes to stick to the top. Spread beaten egg on them too.Cooking Time
The cooking time depends on the size and depth of the pie. The one in the picture above (20 cm/8 inches square, 5 cm/2 inches deep) took about 1 hour 15 minute at 180° C/350° F. Keep an eye on it from about 1 hour.
This pie is also delicious cold. In fact, I usually make it the day before to take on picnics. It keeps well in the fridge too in a airtight container and can be frozen for up to three months. I sometimes cut it into serving-size pieces and freeze the pieces separately.
Please feel free to ask me any questions about this recipe in the comments.
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It looks scrumptious. When I look at other recipes online (which I like to do to compare ingredients and techniques — and like your addition of veggies — one recipe suggests adding a dash of Siracha), I find “Famous New Zealand Bacon and Egg Pie” and from that and other descriptions, I take it that this dish is a New Zealand specialty, which you modestly(?) neglected to note. In the mag Saveur, the author of the recipe says, “I associate bacon and egg pie above all with summer and sheepshearing at my grandparents’ farm in New Zealand. My grandmother would make a pie in the morning and keep it wrapped in kitchen towels until lunchtime, when we’d all come in from the shearing shed. The kettle would go on for tea, and we’d eagerly unwrap the still-warm baking dish.”
I had to look up Siracha! Never heard of it! I often like adding a bit of stuff like that to recipes, but I can’t imagine it in B & E pie myself. We often eat B & E pie with tomato sauce (ketchup).
When I make a bacon and egg pie, I whisk the eggs rather than breaking them into the pie. Sometimes I add cheese.
But that’s the way that my mother taught me… On reflection it may be more quiche than pie!
Whisking the eggs is fine – it’s a good way to make sure the eggs are spread through the other stuff, and it makes a different flavour which many would prefer. I do it sometimes, and the main reason I said not to break them if possible is that that’s the traditional way to do it. You can get away with using less eggs if you want/need to if you whisk them too.
However, as Jenny Hanvier notes, this recipe was traditionally one that was developed on Kiwi farms. In the past all farms kept their own chickens (my grandparents and great-grandparents did, and my sister has them in their dairy farm). Thus there were always heaps of eggs available, and sometimes they had a lot to use up before they went off – sticking them in a pie was a good way to do that.
Sounds delicious. A perfect way to start a holiday.
Great for road trips too!
One of the main reasons I put lots of veges in pies is that I don’t like them very much and I’m not very good at eating them. Egg (and cheese) makes them palatable! Also, it means the whole meal is in one dish, though if I’m entertaining I’ll make a salad to go with the quiche or pie.
Heather, I am one of Jerry’s followers who requested the recipes. Thank you so much for sharing them! One question: In the bacon and egg pie, it appears that the bacon is not cooked prior to adding to the pie-is that correct?
Hi Terry. That’s correct – the bacon isn’t cooked prior to putting it in the pie.
Cheers
Heather
So yesterday afternoon I rolled up my sleeves, pushed play on a Sam Harris podcast and got to work on my first attempt at a pie. I needed 3 rolls of pastry though; one to cover the bottom and half of the sides, one to cover the top and one to tear up and cover the parts of the sides the first missed. My oven is fan-forced so I reckon an hour was the most it should get, though I can’t be sure it was at exactly 180. It came out beautifully, still quite juicy but I imagine it is supposed to be that way. I’m tempted to add some herbs next time but not sure what would suit, maybe some thyme. By my accounting, if you add some greens on the side (I used some sautéed asparagus) it could make a meal for 4 for around A$4 each. Thanks for this, I think it will become a regular in our house, I might try your quiche soon too. (PS I made a donation today too).
Hi Jason. Glad to hear it went OK and you enjoyed it! We can buy pastry in sheets here – usually in packs of five sheets. I think a sheet is the same as your roll. If you don’t roll them, you would need three sheets, but they can be rolled bigger for this pie, especially the bottom sheet. Then you only need two. I should have explained that better but I wasn’t sure how pastry is in other countries and most readers are overseas.
Thanks so much for the donation! I really appreciate it. 🙂