Pork, sage and apple pie

1.Cut pastry in two. Roll out half and line a 20cm round aluminium pie plate. Roll the other piece for the top. Chill both rounds of pastry.

2.Slit sausages with a sharp knife and extract sausage meat. Put sausage meat in a bowl and beat in 25ml water. Spread half the sausage meat over pastry in the tin. Peel, core and slice apple thinly. Put a layer of apple on top of sausage meat, then sprinkle with thyme leaves. Season with a little salt and pepper and grate over a little nutmeg. Spread on remaining sausage meat and top with sage leaves. If you have a pie bird, position it in the centre of the mixture.

3.Lay pastry top in place, making a little cut for the pie bird to poke through (if not using a pie bird, make a cut in the centre of the pastry top to let out steam). Seal edges of pastry. Chill for 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 210°C (fan forced) and put a baking tray in the oven to heat.

4.Brush the top of the pie with beaten egg yolk and slide pie onto hot baking sheet in the oven. After 15 minutes, reduce heat to 180°C and continue baking until pastry is a rich golden brown and the apple is tender, about 25 minutes. If the pastry colours too quickly, drape the top of the pie with a piece of tinfoil. Serve hottish or at room temperature.