Vegetable Pie

A Victorian meat-and-vegetable pie built on the old English pairing of lettuce, peas and onion, all baked under a single crust. The recipe assumes you already know how long meat takes under pastry, which is where it needs the most help.

• The hinge: raw meat under a crustEverything cooks together, so the pastry must survive as long as the meat needs. The recipe gives no oven or timing at all; a moderate oven and something in the region of an hour and a half for lamb, longer for mutton, is a reasonable modern starting point, with foil laid loosely over the crust once it has coloured.
• "Steaks of mutton or lamb"Not steaks in the modern sense but thick slices from the leg or shoulder. Boneless shoulder is the closest supermarket equivalent and stands up to long baking; loin chops will dry out.
• Cos lettuceSold as romaine in most places. Shredded and baked it collapses to almost nothing and releases a good deal of liquid, so pile the dish far higher than looks sensible.
• PeasA good handful means fresh peas in the pod era; frozen peas are a fair substitute and need no adjustment, as they will be in the oven far longer than they require anyway.
• SeasoningThe recipe does not say what; salt and pepper at minimum, and mace or nutmeg would not be out of place in a pie of this period. Season the meat generously, since the lettuce and peas give out water that dilutes everything.
• The deep pie-dishThe recipe specifies nothing beyond "deep", and the filling is to be piled high. A modern deep pie dish or a 9-inch round baking dish works; use a pie funnel or an inverted eggcup to hold the crust up.
• The crustThe recipe says only "a crust", so the choice is open; shortcrust is a safe default. Vent it, or the steam from the lettuce will lift it off the rim.
• YieldNo quantities are given; a dish of this kind with something over a pound of meat would serve four or so.