Hairy Bikers Full English Breakfast Pie

Hairy Bikers’ full English breakfast pie wraps eggs, bacon lardons, sausage meat, cherry tomatoes and Cheddar inside all-butter puff pastry. It bakes at 200°C (180°C fan) for 25–30 minutes and serves 4. Best eaten at room temperature.

The recipe comes from Our Family Favourites, and Si’s headnote is pure Geordie enthusiasm. The sauce mix is the clever bit: ketchup or brown sauce blended with hot sauce and Worcestershire before it goes in. Every slice has seasoning baked right through it.

The yolk technique is the detail that makes this work. You crack four eggs straight into the pie and pierce the yolks with a knife tip. Swirl just enough to break them without fully combining whites and yolks, so you get pockets of each throughout.

Hairy Bikers Full English Breakfast Pie

Recipe by Pinch PerfectCourse: BreakfastCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

25

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

Calories

815

kcal

Total time

55

minutes

Every element of a fry-up sealed inside puff pastry from Si King and Dave Myers’ Our Family Favourites. Best served at room temperature, which makes it ideal for picnics and brunches.

Ingredients

• 1 × 500g block of all-butter puff pastry

• Plain flour, for dusting

• 1 small onion, finely chopped

• 100g bacon lardons

• 6 eggs

• 3 sausages, skinned

• 6 cherry tomatoes, halved

• ½ tsp oregano

• 2 tbsp ketchup or brown sauce

• 2 tsp hot sauce

• Dash of Worcestershire sauce

• 50g Cheddar, grated

• Salt and black pepper

Directions

• Preheat: Set the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6. Put a baking tray in the oven to heat up.
• Line the dish: Cut the block of puff pastry into 2 pieces, one-third and two-thirds. Roll the larger piece out on a floured surface and use it to line a round pie dish about 3cm deep and 20cm in diameter.
• Layer the base: Mix the onion and bacon together and sprinkle them over the pastry. Crack 4 of the eggs and add them to the pie. Pierce the yolks with a knife tip and swirl them very slightly. You don’t want the yolks and whites to combine, but the yolks do need to be broken up a bit. Season with a little salt and black pepper.
• Add beaten egg: Beat the remaining 2 eggs in a bowl. Reserve 2 tablespoons for brushing the pie and pour the rest of the beaten egg into the pie.
• Add sausage and tomatoes: Pinch off small balls, about the size of a large teaspoonful, from the sausages. Drop these into the eggs, spacing them as evenly as you can. Follow with the cherry tomatoes, making sure they are cut side up, and sprinkle over the oregano.
• Sauce and cheese: Mix the ketchup or brown sauce with the hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Drizzle the mixture over the pie, then sprinkle over the cheese.
• Seal and bake: Brush the pastry edges with the beaten egg. Roll out the remaining piece of pastry and use it to cover the pie. Crimp the edges together and brush the pie with more beaten egg. Cut 2 slits in the top of the pie.
• Bake: Place on the heated baking tray and bake for 25–30 minutes until slightly puffed up, crisp and golden. Best served at room temperature.

Notes

• Calories: Puff pastry (500g) 1,800 + bacon lardons (100g) 250 + eggs (6) 468 + sausages skinned (3, ~180g) 450 + Cheddar (50g) 207 + onion (~100g) 40 + cherry tomatoes (6, ~90g) 16 + ketchup (2 tbsp) 30 + hot sauce (2 tsp) 3 + Worcestershire sauce 3 = 3,267 total ÷ 4 servings = 817, rounded to 815 kcal per serving.
  

FAQs

Why does the recipe say to serve at room temperature?

A hot pie straight from the oven is hard to slice because the egg filling is still soft. Letting it cool gives the eggs time to set fully. Each slice then holds together with distinct layers of pastry, egg, sausage and cheese.

This also makes the pie perfect for batch cooking. Bake it the night before a weekend brunch, let it cool, cover and refrigerate. Bring it to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving and the pastry stays crisp.

Can I add other fry-up ingredients like beans or mushrooms?

You can, but both carry a risk. Baked beans release liquid as they heat, which turns the pastry base soggy. Mushrooms have the same problem because they’re mostly water, so drain or pat dry anything wet before adding it.

Black pudding works brilliantly here with no moisture issues. Crumble it into small pieces and scatter it over the bacon and onion layer before the eggs go in. Hash brown pieces also hold up well because they’re already cooked and dry.

How do I stop the bottom pastry going soggy?

The preheated baking tray is Si and Dave’s answer to this. Sliding the pie dish onto a tray that’s already oven-hot sends a blast of heat into the base from underneath. That crisps the bottom pastry before the egg filling can soak through.

Rolling the base pastry thinly helps too, since thick pastry stays damp in the middle. Brushing the inside of the base with beaten egg and letting it dry creates a seal against the wet filling. For another puff pastry recipe from the Bikers, their sausage rolls use the same preheated tray trick.

What size pie dish do I need?

The recipe calls for a round dish about 20cm in diameter and 3cm deep. A standard metal pie dish or a shallow cake tin works well. Metal conducts heat better than ceramic, so it helps crisp the base.

If your dish is slightly larger, the filling spreads thinner and cooks faster, so check at 20 minutes. A smaller, deeper dish means the centre takes longer to set. You’ll know it’s done when the top is puffed, golden and firm to a light tap.

Can I freeze this pie?

Freeze it baked and cooled, wrapped tightly in cling film and then foil, for up to 2 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat at 170°C (150°C fan) for 15–20 minutes to crisp the pastry back up. The eggs firm up slightly more after freezing, so they won’t be as creamy as the fresh version.

You can also freeze it unbaked. Assemble everything, wrap tightly, and bake from frozen at 190°C (170°C fan) for 40–45 minutes. Cover with foil halfway through if the top browns too fast, and check the brownies if you’re building a batch-cooking stash.

Is this breakfast or dinner?

It’s both. Si positions it as breakfast in the book, but at 815 kcal a slice it’s a full meal. Serve at room temperature with a green salad and sharp chutney for a weekend lunch or supper.

For an actual breakfast, cut smaller slices and serve alongside grilled tomatoes and a mug of tea. The pie also travels well because it’s designed to be eaten at room temperature, which makes it ideal for packed lunches, picnics and buffets. It keeps in the fridge for up to 2 days, covered.