I rather like the idea of the cobbler - where a casserole dish is topped with individual rounds of pastry rather than a complete pastry lid. It looks good when brought to the table and is easily served up.

Beef is everyone’s favourite casserole meat but pork does work well in the pot, and I think sadly underrated in slow cooking. It generates a delicious sauce, especially when cooked with plenty of onion, and in this dish is sweet and tender. With potato dice in the casserole as well as vegetables this is a substantial family meal.

Ingredients - serves 4

600g diced pork
25g butter
1 onion, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, crushed & finely chopped
4 carrots, peeled and cut into batons
200g celeriac, peeled & cut into 20mm dice
4 medium potatoes, peeled & cut into 20mm dice
1 tin chopped tomatoes
250 ml bouillon
25g plain flour
salt & pepper

for the pastry:
200g plain flour
100g unsalted butter
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1 egg
beaten egg to glaze

Method

1 Pre heat the oven to 170°C
Make the pastry by placing flour, mustard and butter in a food processor, blitz to fine then add the egg. Process until the dough forms a ball and stop immediately. Wrap with cling film and refrigerate.

2 Fry onion slices and garlic gently in the butter for a 10 -15 minutes until softened. Remove with a slotted spoon and add to an oven proof casserole dish. Add the diced pork to the pan and fry to brown. Sprinkle over the flour, and some seasoning and cook on for a couple of minutes. Deglaze by adding some of the tomatoes to the pan and then transfer to the casserole. Add the chopped vegetables and bouillon and stir everything together. Cover tightly with foil and cook 45 - 60 mins or until cooked and tender. Remove foil.

3 Roll the pastry to 5mm thick and cut into circles with a large cutter. Place the pastry, overlapping slightly if necessary onto the surface of the casserole, brush with glaze, and bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is cooked. Serve.