Preparation

1. First up, sift the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Cut the cold butter into small pieces and then put all three into a food mixer with a metal blade. Blitz it until it looks like fine oatmeal, then put the mixer on its slowest setting and start pouring in your water (nice and slowly). The meal will start to form a ball at which point it is done.
2. Place your dough on a lightly floured surface then knead it a few times by hand, stretching it out, then rounding it back into a ball two or three times.
3. Wrap the dough tightly in cling film (making sure there are no gaps anywhere) and stick it in the fridge overnight.
4. Now you do the bit that seems to scare people off puff pastry, rolling in the butter, which although finicky can be great fun. It is really important that the dough and the butter are at the same temperature or they combine poorly, so first things first, pull your dough out of the fridge. Now put the softened butter in between two sheets of cling film (which means you can roll it and stop it getting anything in it prior to mixing, which is important since any debris or lumps stop the puff rising properly). Use a rolling pin to roll the softened butter into a rectangle, approximately 12cm (5 inches) by 20cm (8 inches).
5. Then on a lightly floured board, roll the dough into a rectangle twice the size of your softened butter. Since loose flour can cause grey streaks and prevent the puff pastry from rising properly, use a dry pastry brush to get rid of any loose flour on your dough.
6. Remove one piece of the cling film from the butter and place it face down in the middle of your rectangle of dough. Then remove the other piece of cling film. Fold the four edges of the dough over the butter, enclosing it completely.
7. Now carefully roll out the mixture until it is about 20cm (8 inches) by 60cm (24 inches). Again, remove any loose flour from the dough's surface. Fold the dough in thirds, like you would a letter. If one end is damaged or in worse condition, fold it in first; otherwise, start at the bottom.
8. Now you need to give the block of dough a ¼ turn so that the folded edge is on your left and the dough faces you like a book. Roll out the dough until once again it is a rectangle of 20cm by 60cm. Now fold the dough in thirds again, completing the second turn.
9. After this you need to cover it in cling film & pop it in the fridge for about 30 minutes. After that you need to repeat the above process two more times (including the time in the fridge) at the end of which you will have turned the pastry 6 times.
10. It is now ready to use, but will benefit from another night in the fridge (again wrapped in cling film). This sounds very involved, but actually no stage takes more than ten minutes at a time and it can be done while you are in the kitchen cooking other meals.

1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C.
2. Pour the stock into a pan and place over a low heat so that it can simmer nicely for the next hour or so as you add the various ingredients.
3. Wrap the garlic cloves in foil with a splash of olive oil and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes.
4. Now heat your oil in a large heavy bottomed pan over a medium heat. First brown your pork mince & set it aside, leaving the fat that should have come off in the pan. If you are using cheaper pork mince, fry some streaky bacon first (about 100g) and leave the pork until last.
5. Then brown the lamb and then the pigeon breast. All you are doing here is searing the meat so it retains its flavour and moistness.
6. Now pour off any fat that is left in the pan and pour in your red wine to deglaze the pan. Add the pan juices, chopped onion, bouquet garni, the roasted garlic and all your browned meat to the simmering stock. If there isn’t enough stock to cover all the meat, add a little water until all the meat is covered. This should simmer for about half an hour.
7. At this point, taste and season with salt & pepper and remove the bouquet garni.

1. Lightly grease the pie dishes with butter and line with your pastry (rolled to about half a centimetre thickness), making sure that it comes right to the edge.
2. Using a slotted spoon, put all your meat and onions in the pie, being careful to place the pigeon at the bottom to keep it moist. Then add your stock until it almost covers the meat.
3. Brush the edge of the pastry with beaten egg and place a pastry lid on top. Crimp to secure it and put a few holes in the pastry to allow steam to escape.
4. Use the pastry trimmings to make a decoration and use the beaten egg to glue it down.
5. Bake in the oven at 190°C for about 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown & puffed up.

1. Place the peeled potatoes into a large pan, cover with lightly salted cold water and bring to the boil.
2. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
3. When the potatoes are almost ready put the spring onions, butter and milk in a pan and bring to the boil.
4. Drain and pass the potatoes through a potato ricer into a clean bowl. Pour your milk, spring onion & butter mixture and your torn mint into the potatoes and mix until smooth and well combined.
5. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

1. Lightly steam the vegetables so that they still has some bite and serve with a dab of butter.

PLATING