First things first…this was inspired by a crackin’ blogger, a guy whose food has me literally licking my screen each and every time he gets in the kitchen, check out Conor’s  Manly, Man  Size Pork Pie and see why I had to give this a go.

So this is the Dude version, a grab and go job perfect for stuffing in your man bag as you head off to the surf or a spot of downhill on your long board…this bad boy went with me today to the hills around South Dublin.

Makes 2 dude pies

For the filling:

450 grms ground Pork shoulder

100 grms smoked pancetta

1 tbs dried Sage

1 tps dried Rosemary

1 tps dried Oregano

Salt flakes and White pepper to season

For the Pastry

110 grms lard

1 tps salt

250 grms plain flour

For the jelly

200 mls good pork stock (hot)

1 sachet of gelatine

Kick it all off by getting the filling squared away – combine all of the filling ingredients and form into two balls – about the same size as tennis balls.

Next get into the pastry – do not be tempted to use shop bought short crust. Bring the water to the boil and dump in the lard and met it down completely.

Next add the hot water and lard mix to the flour in a big bowl and combine. Get your hands in and bring everything together to form a malleable dough.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll out to about 1/2 cm thick, now this is the tricky bit – grab a tumbler or a ceramic container and form the dough up and around the tumbler to create your pie case:

Next cut out a circle of dough the same size as the tumbler circumference for the lid.

To build your pie, wiggle the tumbler out of the dough, drop in the pork mix and push it down a little. Pop on the lid and crimp together to form a tight seal.

To cook, simply egg wash the pie and sling in a pre-heated oven at 190c for 40 minutes or until the juices run clear. I use a meat thermometer to be 100% – you want 70c for the pork to be done. Remove and set aside to cool completely.

Finally get the jelly together, combine the hot stock with the gelatine, and pour carefully into the top hole until the spaces are filled and the jelly runs out of the top of the pie. The pie will then set after about 1-2 hours in the fridge so all you need to do is plan you trip to the hills!!