Serves 6

For the filling

- 750g fresh cherries

- 150g good black-cherry jam

- 1 tbsp ground arrowroot

For the pastry

- 250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

- 175g fridge-cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

- 1 tbsp caster sugar, plus 2 tsp for sprinkling

- 1 large free-range egg

To make the filling, remove the cherry stalks and the stones. Put the cherries to one side. Spoon the cherry jam into a small saucepan and add 100ml water. Heat gently, stirring constantly, until the jam melts and begins to bubble. Mix the arrowroot with 2 tbsp cold water to form a smooth paste and stir into the pan. Return to the heat and simmer gently, stirring constantly, until the sauce is very thick and smooth. Tip all the cherries into the pan and turn them to coat in the sauce. Transfer to a roughly 1-litre pie dish, piling up well above the rim. Leave to cool.

To make the pastry, put the flour, butter and sugar in a food processor and blend until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. In a bowl, lightly whisk the egg with 1 tbsp cold water. Put 1 tbsp of the egg mixture (to glaze the pie) to one side. Add the rest slowly to the flour mixture while the motor is running. Stop blending as soon as it begins to form a ball.

Squidge the pastry into a lump and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out with a floured rolling pin to about 7cm larger than the rim of the pie dish. Cut 2 or 3 long, 2½cm-wide strips from the edges. Brush the rim of the pie dish with a little of the reserved beaten egg and place the strips around the circumference, overlapping slightly at the joins to make a thicker edge for crimping. Brush this rim with more egg and gently lift over the remaining rolled pastry to cover the filling and rim. Press firmly to seal the 2 layers together, then neatly trim off the excess and crimp the edges with your fingertips. Place the pie on a sturdy baking tray and chill for 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Brush the pastry with the remaining egg glaze and sprinkle with 2 tsp sugar. Make a small hole in the centre of the pie with a knife and bake for 25-30 minutes. Reduce the heat to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and cook for a further 15-20 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and glistening. Serve hot, with proper custard or cream.

Extracted and adapted from What to Eat Now — More Please! by Valentine Warner, published on July 6 (Mitchell Beazley £20). Buy it for £16 (inc p&p) through The Sunday Times BooksFirst on 0845 271 2135 or at timesonline.co.uk/booksfirst. The new series of What to Eat Now starts on BBC2 on July 6 at 8.30pm

Don’t miss Next week, Valentine Warner rustles up chicken, ham and leek pie, sardines escabèche, summer salad, prawns tangiers, and summer pudding

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