Serves 4
A rustic-style pie that is rich and aromatic. Bake the filling first in a shallow casserole pan (or use one of the newly imported Colombian black ceramic casseroles with lids), then plop a lid of puff or herby shortcrust pastry on top.
No need to edge a pie dish or struggle with crimping.

100g pancetta or lean, streaky smoked bacon, chopped
About 4-6 tbsp olive oil
About 20g dried porcini or ceps
1 red onion, chopped
2 fat cloves garlic, chopped
2cm cube root ginger, chopped
1 large carrot, 1 large parsnip or medium turnip, 1 large stick celery, 1 small swede - all chopped finely - or a 300g pack of chopped stew vegetables
600g venison casserole meat, diced
3 tbsp plain flour, seasoned
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
200ml red wine
1 tbsp juniper berries, roughly crushed
2 large bay leaves
About 350g puff pastry, thawed if frozen (or for herby shortcrust follow the recipe below)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

SHORTCRUST PASTRY, OPTIONAL

250g plain flour
1/2 tsp fine sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper
125g chilled butter
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
A little iced water, to bind
1 egg yolk

1 Heat the oven to 160C, Gas 2. Sauté the bacon in a large frying pan until browned and the fat starts to run. Remove the bacon to a medium-sized shallow casserole, about 25cm diameter. Add a tablespoon or so of oil to the frying pan and sauté the onions, garlic and ginger until softened, then spoon these on top of the bacon.
2 Meanwhile, cover the dried mushrooms in 600ml boiling water and leave to cool.
3 Heat another spoon or so of oil and fry all the root vegetables for about 5 minutes, until softened. Spoon these
also into the casserole.
4 Toss the meat in the seasoned flour in a large food bag. Heat more oil in the frying pan and brown the meat in batches, turning once until nicely caramelised. Add the vinegar to the pan and cook for a few seconds, then pour in the wine and bubble up, stirring. Then pour in the mushrooms and the soaking water and heat until boiling.
5 Mix in the juniper and seasoning and stir the meat and liquid into the vegetables. Tuck in the bay leaves, add some seasoning, cover and bake for about 11/2 hours until the meat is tender. Stir it once during cooking.
6 Meanwhile, if using puff pastry, roll out to the thickness of a £1 coin. Then cut out a round to fit the casserole top.
(Hint, use the pan lid as a template to cut out a neat round.)
If using shortcrust pastry, put the flour, butter and salt into a food processor and whiz to fine crumbs. Tip into a bowl and mix in the herbs then 2-3 tablespoons ice-cold water with a table knife, then knead lightly on a board to a smooth dough. Rest for 10 minutes, then roll it out to a round large enough to fit the top of the casserole, again using the lid as a template. Slide the pastry on to a board, cover with clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.
7 To bake, heat the oven again to 200C, Gas 6. Remove the pastry from the fridge and put on top of the filling. Cut a cross in the centre for a steam hole. Beat the yolk with a splash of cold water and brush evenly over the pastry.
8 Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Stand for 10 minutes before serving.

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