Game of Thrones Medieval Pork Pie

Family Medicine is a lighter rotation (no working on weekends!), so I finally finished the last Game of Thrones book after devouring it for a week and a half nonstop. I’m an avid reader, and when I get into a book, nothing else happens until I finish – a rather dangerous habit, so I read only when I have a large chunk of time.

I was thrilled to also finally test out my first recipe …. yes, I know it’s March already. The recipes are grouped according to the book’s regions – this Pork Pie recipe is from the Wall above the North. Also, the recipes have an authentic “medieval” version and a “modern,” with more common ingredients, which is really cool. I couldn’t decided between both, so I combined them.

Although making the crust pretty is a hassle, the pie filling itself is super easy to make. The flavor is amazing – those medieval folks ate very, very well.

Medieval Pork Pie 

1/2 onion, diced
1 1/2 pounds ground pork
1 cup of Ritz crackers, crushed
2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup spicy barbecue sauce
2 Tbsp honey
1 apple, thinly sliced
1/2 cup grated cheese of choice
Dough for double crust 9″ pie (storebought or recipe below)
1 egg, for egg wash (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly brown the onion in a pan over medium heat. Add the pork, crackers, poultry seasoning, cumin, and salt and pepper, barbecue sauce, and honey; sautee until pork is just cooked.

Pour the filling into the prebaked pie shell (I used a 6 inch cake pan). Arrange sliced apples and cheese over the filling. Cover with the top dough and pinch edges shut. Beat 1 egg and brush the top to make it golden brown when baking.

Cut decorative steam holes in the top of the pastry and bake for 45 min to 1 hour.

Medieval Pastry Dough

(Dough for double crust 9″ pie)

Ingredients
pinch of saffron (optional)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 cups flour
2 egg yolks, beaten

Directions
Optional: Dissolve the saffron in the water.

Cut and combine the butter into the flour until crumb-size pieces of butter are formed. Add the egg yolks and the saffron water. Mix until everything just sticks together (add more water if needed). Dough can be chilled up to 3 days or frozen indefinitely.

To pre-bake a shell, line a pan with dough, rolled very thin—to between 1/8 and 1/4 inch. Poke holes with a fork all over the bottom of the pastry shell, or use dried beans to prevent bubbling. Bake for 10 minutes at 350°F. Don’t let the pastry brown! Remove it from the oven and fill as the recipe indicates.

*I used this to make a 6 inch double layered pie with some extra dough