PHOTOGRAPHS INDIA WHILEY-MORTON FOOD STYLING NOKX MAJOZI
The project.
There’s not much that chef Nokx Majozi doesn’t know about pies – she’s been making some of the UK’s greatest at Holborn Dining Room for nearly 10 years. Here, she shares a festive centrepiece that will knock any pork pie you’ve ever had into a top hat →
A BIT ABOUT NOKX
Nokuthula (Nokx) Majozi was born in South Africa and moved to London in the early Noughties, working her way up in the kitchens of various five-star hotels. In 2014 she began working at The Pie Room in Holborn Dining Room, where she met pie expert Calum Franklin, who became her mentor. Calum has since moved on and Nokx is now head pie maker at The Pie Room. She also works with Women in Hospitality, an organisation that nurtures the careers of aspiring female chefs.
Pork, black pudding and apricot pie
Serves 14-16 Hands-on time 1 hour 20 min, plus cooling, overnight chilling and 1-2 hours additional chilling Oven time 50-60 min Specialist kit 23cm non-stick springform cake tin; small funnel
NOKX’S TIP
No funnel? You can use a metal piping bag nozzle instead.
KNOW-HOW
Lardo is cured pork fat – buy it in Italian delis. Leave it out if you can’t find any, but it does add richness, with little nuggets of juiciness throughout the pie.
• 1kg plain flour
• 20g table salt
• 500g unsalted butter, chilled and diced, plus 10g to grease
• 240g free-range egg (about 5 medium eggs), beaten, plus 1 medium free-range egg yolk, beaten, to stick/glaze
For the filling
• 1kg diced outdoor-reared pork shoulder
• 150g black pudding, chopped
• 120g streaky bacon, roughly chopped
• 20g lardo, diced (optional – see Know-how)
• 150g dried apricots, quartered
• 10g yellow mustard seeds
• ½ bunch sage, leaves chopped, stalks separated
• 5g fennel seeds
For the jelly
• 100ml dry cider
• 50ml red wine
• 500ml chicken stock
• ¼ bunch thyme
• 6 gelatine leaves
1 To make the pastry, mix the flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl, then rub in the butter with your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the 240g egg and 120ml water, stir until a dough forms, then turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth. Cover and rest for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.
2 For the filling, put the pork shoulder in a food processor and pulse to a fine mince
