Ham, Potato, Cheese and Apple Fidget Pie Recipe

English fidget or fidgety pie with a creamy cider sauce and baby leeks.

Ham, Potato, Cheese and Apple Fidget Pie Recipe

The curiously named fidget or fidgety pie is an old-school English recipe that contains ham (gammon or bacon) and apple and in my case cheese and potato and my version comes with a creamy cider sauce.

Course Main Course

Cuisine British

Keyword fidget pie, fidgety pie, ham pie recipe

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 1 15

Cooling Time 1

Total Time 2 45

Servings Servings

Calories 1161kcal

Author Brian Jones

Ingredients

For the Shortcrust Pastry:

125 g Plain Flour 1 Cup
30 g Lard 2 tablespoon
30 g Butter 2 tablespoon
¼ teaspoon Salt
25-35 ml Cold Milk 1¾-2¼ tablespoon

For the Pie Filling:

500 ml Cider 2 Cups
1 Medium Onion 150g
1 Large Potato 300g
½ teaspoon Coarse Sea Salt
2 tablespoon Cooking Oil
1 Medium Apple 175g
100 g Cheddar Cheese 1 Cup
125 g Thick Cut Ham 4½oz
2 tablespoon Wholegrain Mustard

For the Cider Sauce:

125 ml Chicken Stock ½ Cup
75 ml Double Cream ⅓ Cup

Instructions

For the Pastry:

Add the flour, salt and diced lard and butter to a food processor and pulse to form a breadcrumb-like texture.
Pour in the milk and process until it forms a ball, you may not need all of the milk or you may need a splash more.
Turn out, wrap in cling film and then place in the fridge to cool for 30 minutes.

For the Pie Filling:

Heat a small 15cm or 6" saucepan over a high heat and pour in the cider, then reduce it by two-thirds. This will take between 10 and 20 minutes depending on the heat.
Heat a 30cm or 12" frying pan over a medium-high heat.
Peel and grate the onion.
Add the oil to the frying pan and then throw in the grated onion and cook it for 8-10 minutes stirring every couple of minutes. The onions should be nicely golden and the moisture should have evaporated.
Grate the potato and add it to the onion along with the salt and cook for 10-12 minutes stirring every couple of minutes. This again should result in a nice golden mix that will have dried out and have a tendency to stick together like a badly form rosti.
Transfer the potato and onion mixture to a mixing bowl and allow it to cool.
Core the apples then grate them into a bowl, then pour over the reduced cider mix and allow it to cool.
When the potatoes have cooled stir through the mustard until well combined.
Grate the cheddar cheese.
Shred the ham.
Pour the apple and cider mix through a fine mesh sieve to separate the solids and liquids.

Building and Cooking the Pie:

Roll out the pastry until it is 3-4mm (⅛") thick and cut it in half then cut a piece off large enough to form the lid of each pie.
Grease and flour two small pie dishes, I use oval pie dishes that hold around 250ml (1 cup) of liquid that are 15cm x 11cm x 3cm (6" x 4½" x 1¼").
Line the pie dishes leaving a very generous overhang.
Take a quarter of the potato mix and press it into the base of one of the pies.
Add half of the apple mix, followed by half of the shredded ham, then sprinkle with almost half of the cheese.
Press on another quarter of the potato mix and sprinkle with a little more cheese. Drizzle over 2-3 tablespoons of the apple cider liquid.
Add a lid for the pie and press down the sides, then trim off any excess pastry.
Repeat the above processes to make a second pie.
Cut a cross in the centre of each pie and then brush with an egg wash.
Cook in the oven at 180°C or 350°F for 45 minutes.

For the Sauce:

Whilst the pies are cooking place any leftover cider from the apple mix into a small saucepan with the chicken stock and reduce by half.
When the mix has been reduced by half whisk in the cream and keep warm.

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