Pig’s Head and Potato Pie with Pig’s Ear, Sorrel, Spinach and Parsley Salad

Method

For the Pig’s head: to a large stock pot add the pig’s head, celery sticks, carrots, onions, garlic, tied thyme and parsley stalks, bay leaves, chicken stock, white wine, and black and white peppercorn pouch.

Now add cold water until the pigs head is completely covered. Place the removed pig’s ears on top, but submerged under the liquid. Now bring the liquid to the boil, and then cover the pan with a lid and reduce the heat until the pot is murmuring (a gentle simmer). Leave this for 1 hour and remove the pig’s ears and gently rinse in cool water. Simmer the pig's head for a further 2 hours. We want the flesh to just pull away from the pig.

Now comes the funky (messy) part. Remove the Pig’s head from the broth and allow to cool until you can safely handle it. I used a pair of clean Marigolds (dishwashing gloves) to do this next bit so I can do it whilst it is hot. Pull the flesh away from the head, separating meat from fat and bone. We want to keep all the meat; especially look out for the cheek meat – it’s just sensational. With the tongue you will need to peel away the tough membrane. Underneath you will find this incredibly rich meat with the consistency of ‘pulled pork’. Put all the meat into a clean bowl. The remaining broth can be strained (with the vegetables, herbs and spices being discarded), reduced and then retained for further use. I froze mine.

Pre-heat your oven to 170 deg C (340 deg F). Now to construct the pie: take a 23 cm deep pie dish and line it with a 6-8mm thick layer of puff pastry. We are going to have three layers of pig’s head meat and 3 layers of sliced potato. Start by taking a third of the meat and evenly spread over the pie base. Now take a third of the parsley and sliced garlic and sprinkle over the meat and season with salt and pepper. Now add an overlapping layer of sliced potato. Repeat this layer process another two times. The filling may seem too much but it will shrink when cooking. Now roll out the rest of the puff pastry and cover the pie with it. Seal the edges by pushing the pastry with your thumb around the circumference. Prick the top a few times with a fork and then wash the top with the beaten egg. Put in the oven for two hours. The pie is ready when the potato surrenders to a skewer.

Now the pig’s ears have cooled, slice very thinly. Heat the oil in a deep pan until it reaches about 170 deg C (340 deg F). Now, in batches, add the sliced pig’s ear. This is the most difficult part of the dish as:

1)      They will spit vehemently when added to the oil, so really take care.

2)      If they are not continually agitated (stirred) they will stick together in a congealed mess and will not crisp up.

Don’t be tempted to try a big batch at once or they will stick. After a few minutes the ear slices will become crispy. Drain on paper towel.

For the vinaigrette, bash the garlic with the salt in a mortar and pestle. Add the mustard, lemon juice and vinegar and mix and grind in the mortar and pestle until consistent. Now add the mix to a large bowl and in a steady stream add the olive oil whilst whisking away. The vinaigrette should be a nice emulsion. Add the black pepper to taste.

For the Salad, add the crispy pig’s ears, sorrel, spinach, parsley and capers to a bowl and then add 3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette dressing. Mix well – hands work great. Taste and adjust the amount of dressing according to your taste.

When the pie is ready serve a slice with the salad. The variety in texture and flavour of the meat will surely wow you.

The recipe for chicken stock is here.