Bacon and Egg Pie

MAKE THE LAMINATED PASTRY

Rub the shortening into the 200 g flour and 3 g salt until fine and crumbly. Mix in 104 g cold water to make a firm dough, adding a little more only if dry flour remains. Knead briefly until it holds together, flatten into a rectangle, wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

While the dough chills, flatten the 130 g butter between two sheets of baking paper into a roughly 13 cm square. Keep it cold but pliable.

Roll the dough into an approximately 17 × 34 cm rectangle. Place the butter square on one half, leaving a border. Fold the bare half over it and seal the edges.

Roll the packet gently into a long rectangle, fold it in thirds and rotate 90°. Chill for at least 20 minutes. Repeat until you have made four folds in total, chilling for at least 20 minutes between folds. If the butter softens or breaks through, chill before rolling again. After the fourth fold, wrap the pastry and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

MAKE THE FILLING

Put the milk and onion in a large saucepan. Bring just to the boil with the lid on, then immediately remove from the heat. Leave covered to infuse for 15–20 minutes.

While the milk infuses, mix the 165 g flour and 3 g salt for the base pastry. Rub in the 87 g cubed butter, leaving visible pieces. Add the 48 g ice-cold water and bring together without kneading. Flatten into a disc, wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

Remove the onion from the milk and reserve the milk. Melt the 20 g butter for the sauce in a large saucepan. Whisk in the 20 g flour and cook for about a minute. Gradually whisk in the infused milk, then bring to a simmer, stirring until smooth and lightly thickened. Turn off the heat and stir in the cheese a little at a time. Add the Dijon and lemon juice, season lightly with salt and pepper, then stir in the chives. Transfer to a wide bowl and refrigerate until cool.

Fry the bacon in batches until browned. Drain on paper towels, cool and refrigerate until needed. Cut eleven rashers into thirds for the bottom layer and eleven into thirds for the top.

ASSEMBLE THE PIE

Lightly grease the pie tin. Roll the base pastry to 2.5 mm, making a circle large enough to line the bottom and sides with a little overhang. Ease it into the tin without stretching it, leaving a slight rim of pastry for sealing. Refrigerate the lined tin until ready to fill.

Put a sturdy metal baking tray on a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 190°C fan-forced. Once the lid pastry has rested for at least an hour, roll it to 3 mm, making a circle generously larger than the top of the tin. Keep it cool while you fill the pie.

Spread most of the cooled cheese sauce over the base, keeping a little back until you can judge the filling level. Arrange eleven cut rashers of bacon across the sauce. Crack in all eleven eggs, spacing the yolks evenly around the pie. Arrange the remaining eleven cut rashers over the eggs. Add the reserved sauce only if there is room, leaving enough exposed pastry at the rim to seal the lid.

Very lightly dampen the exposed rim of the base pastry. Lay the lid over the filling without stretching it, press it firmly to the base pastry around the rim, then trim neatly with a sharp knife. Cut an X in the centre to release steam.

BAKE & SERVE

Set the pie tin directly on the hot tray and bake for approximately 50–60 minutes, checking from 45 minutes. The lid should be golden and crisp, the pastry at the edges well baked and the egg filling set in the centre. If the lid browns before the pie is cooked through, cover it loosely with foil and keep baking.

Leave the pie uncovered in its tin for 15–20 minutes. Cut and lift the slices from the tin while the filling is still hot.