Peameal bacon was on sale a couple weeks ago, so I grabbed a big chunk and tossed it into the freezer for future use. I figured that since peameal bacon is pretty close to NZ bacon (ie. not streaky bacon) I'd have a go at making a bacon and egg pie. I ended up with a bit of a soggy bottom. I probably should've partially baked the bottom crust before baking or something. It was still delicious though.

I made the variant listed at the bottom of the page that adds onion, veggies, and chutney. I figured that would make it both a little more interesting and a little more nutritionally balanced. (Still not healthy, but at least there's some veg in there!) I used kale as my veg. I think a bit of garlic would've been nice with the veggies too. I'll add it next time.

I made this with puff pastry as Edmonds calls for either rough puff or store-bought puff pastry. I didn't feel like making my own pastry today, so I just grabbed a package of frozen puff pastry and used that. That being said, I've run into some comments from Kiwis online saying that using anything other than flaky (aka rough puff) pastry for this pie is just wrong. Use at your own risk!

Bacon and Egg Pie

Slightly adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. butter (optional)
• 1 small onion, chopped (optional)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
• 1 c. frozen chopped kale or other vegetables (optional)
• 400-450g puff pastry or rough puff (flaky) pastry
• 250g back bacon, cut into pieces
• 4-6 Tbsp. Tomato & Date Chutney or other chutney (optional)
• 6-8 eggs
• pepper, to taste
• milk or beaten egg

Directions

1. If using veggies, sauté the onion in the butter until softened, then toss in the garlic and cook for another minute or two. Add the kale and cook until thawed. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F), place a baking sheet in the oven, and grease a 20cm (8") square pan.
3. Roll out half the puff pastry and line the greased tin with it.
4. At this point, I proceeded with the recipe as written. However, this resulted in a soggy bottom. I'd be tempted to try tossing the bottom crust in the oven for a bit at this point (with the caveat that I don't know whether it will actually work or not or whether or not it will actually help with the soggy bottom). Next time I'd prick the bottom with a fork and try baking at 200°C (400°F) for 20 minutes and then proceed with the recipe as written.
5. Add bacon pieces followed by veggie mixture (if using).
6. Top with the chutney (if using).
7. Crack the eggs and add them in on top of the other ingredients.
8. Prick each yolk with a fork to break it.
9. Sprinkle with pepper.
10. Roll out remaining pastry and cover the pie.
11. Trim edges of pastry. Use the off-cuts to make a pretty design on the top if you wish.
12. Brush the top crust with milk or beaten egg.
13. Cut a few holes/slashes in the top.
14. Place the pie tin on the hot baking sheet¹ and bake at 200°C (400°F) for 40-50 minutes².
15. Serve with ketchup and/or additional chutney (if using).

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¹ There was no mention of a baking sheet in the original recipe, but I've used this method to help with soggy bottoms on shotrcrust pies. I figure it's at least worth a shot for the puff pastry version. ^Back
2 Edmonds only calls for a 30-minute bake, but it was definitely still underbaked after only half an hour. I baked mine for a good 50 minutes, I think it probably still would've been fine with another 5-10. ^Back