Ingredients.
One 8" (200mm) shallow pie dish.
6 to 8 pilchard. 2 eggs. 4 rashers bacon. 1 lemon.
One medium sized onion.
Breadcrumbs
Cream/Milk
Salt and pepper to season, (sea salt for greater authencity).
Parsley and tarragon for flavouring.
Gut, clean and bone the fish, leaving on the heads and tails. (You may find the flesh is so fresh you can pull the backbone free without a knife) Take the onion. Finely chop. Chop into squares the bacon. Cut the lemon in half; set two slices from to one side for decoration. Squeeze and save the juice. Finely grind the rind. Boil until soft, not hard two free-range eggs. Cut into small dices.
Make breadcrumbs from 2 slices of bread, soak in a little milk/cream, and season - this is to stuff the fish!
Either mix and roll enough ingredients to make approx. 300g of shortcrust or flaky pasty.
Stuff the pilchards with the breadcrumb mix. Carefully place your pilchards, into the bottom of the dish arranging them with heads up. Place the mixed chopped onion, eggs and bacon in the gaps between the fish. Add the lemon juice and cover with your pastry lid, make small cuts where the heads are and poke through, press down around the fish to seal the pie, try to make the pastry loose so it rolls and waves on the top like the sea.
Brush with a little egg, and place in the middle of a pre-hearted oven gas mark 6, 200 c for around 40 minutes, until golden brown. For larger pies more time might be needed before it is cooked.
Serve piping hot with sprig of parsley garnish and Cornish new potatoes.
