This is a dish that’s well worth the wait. While it takes a bit of time to prep, once you’re done, it’s in the oven and you’re good to go. And the result is so good you’ll be glad you put in the effort!

Ingredients

Bird

• 1 whole pukeko

• 1 large oven bag

• Knob of butter

• 3 Tbsp Port

• 1 sprig thyme

• 1 sprig rosemary

• 4 sage leaves

• 3 pinches salt

• 3 pinches pepper

Mash

• 4 medium Agria potatoes, diced

• 25g butter

• ¼ cup milk

• ¼ cup frozen peas

• 4 pinches salt

• 4 pinches pepper

• Grated cheese

Filling

• 100g butter

• 2 white onions, sliced

• 6 cloves garlic, chopped

• 2 rashers bacon, chopped

• 1 tsp of your favourite spices

• 4 carrots, chopped

• 10 yams, chopped

• 1L beef stock

• ½ cup Port

• 250g ‘ready to eat’ pitted prunes

• 1 Tbsp black pepper

• 3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Pastry

• Butter for greasing

• Pre-made savoury short pastry

method

1. Pre-heat oven to 160°C.

2. Place bird in an oven bag with butter, Port, thyme, rosemary, sage leaves, salt and pepper. Tie the bag and make a small incision in it to let the steam out. Place in oven for 3 hours. Once cooked, allow to cool 15-20 minutes. Turn oven up to 180°C. Empty bird and juices into a bowl. Shred meat off the bones, being careful to remove small bones. Set aside.

3. For the mash, add potatoes to boiling water in a saucepan and cook for 15-20 minutes or until soft. Drain and place back into same saucepan. Add butter and milk and mash potato until smooth. Stir in peas and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

4. In a large hot pan, use butter to brown onions, garlic and bacon. Turning the heat down slightly, add your favourite spices, carrots, yams and beef stock and let simmer for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add shredded bird meat and juices, Port, prunes, black pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer for a further 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.

5. Pre-grease a large pie dish and line it with pastry. Pour the cooled filling mixture into the dish and top with the potato and pea mash, spreading it evenly and patting down until flat. Sprinkle grated cheese on top.

6. Place into the 180°C oven for 25 minutes. Then turn down to 120°C and cook for a further 15 minutes or until golden brown.

7. Take out of the oven and dig in.