Ingredients

Step by step

1. Start by putting the porcini in a small bowl and covering them with 150ml boiling water. Set aside to soak. Put the shallots in another bowl, cover with boiling water and leave to stand for a while, as this will loosen the skins and make peeling easier. Preheat the oven to 140°C, fan 120°C, gas 1.

2. Mix the flour with a good amount of seasoning, and toss the venison in it to coat. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large frying pan, add half the venison and brown well over a high heat, about 5 minutes. Transfer to an ovenproof casserole. Repeat with the rest of the oil and venison (keeping any flour that remains in the bowl). Meanwhile, drain the shallots, trim away the root end and peel off the skins.

3. Once the venison is all browned, add the bacon lardons to the frying pan; cook over a medium heat until the fat starts to render out and the bacon starts to crisp, about 4-5 minutes. Lift into the casserole using a draining spoon. Brown the shallots in the bacon fat, over a medium heat, about 5 minutes. Tip everything into the casserole and mix in any remaining flour. Cook for 1 minute.

4. Add the thyme, bay, juniper, if using, and the porcini plus their soaking liquid (don’t tip in the dregs, as they may contain grit). Pour in the red wine, crumble in the stock cube and add the sugar; season. Bring to a simmer, cover with the lid and cook in the oven for 1 hour.

5. Stir in the mushrooms, replace the lid and cook for a further 30 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaves and then leave to cool to room temperature. This is your pie filling. You can either continue from this point, or cool and chill the filling to bake as a pie later.

6. Set the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6. Tip the cooled filling into a 1.5-2 litre pie dish and brush the rim with some beaten egg.

7. For the suet pastry, mix the flour, suet, thyme, the salt and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper together in a mixing bowl. Add enough cold water to bind as soft but sticky pastry - about 200ml. Pinch off some bits of pastry, roll into thin sausages and press onto the rim of the pie dish (this will help the pastry lid hold on). Roll out the rest of the suet pastry on a floured surface to roughly the shape of the pie dish - it will be much thicker than shortcrust, about 1cm. Lift on top of the pie dish, press down the edges to seal and trim off any excess if you wish, or simply leave it overhanging. Brush the top with more beaten egg, cut a steam hole, the bake on a tray for 35-40 minutes until golden brown, crisp and piping hot.