¼teaspoonground allspice (also called pimento or Jamaican Pepper)
¼teaspoonground cinnamon
¼teaspoonground nutmeg
1pinchground cloves
3cupschicken stock (chicken broth or chicken bouillon)
12ouncesrusset potatoes - peeled and shredded (about 1/2 a potato)
TO MAKE THE CRUST:
½cupsour cream - chilled
1largeegg - lightly beaten (if halving the recipe, use the full egg. It makes for a tasty crust.)
2 ½cupsall purpose flour (plain flour Australia and UK) - (or 12 1/2 ounces)
½teaspoonsalt
12tablespoonsunsalted butter - cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
TO MAKE THE EGG WASH:
1largeegg yolk - lightly beaten with 2 tablespoons of water
Instructions
FOR THE FILLING:
Dissolve 1¼ teaspoon salt and baking soda in water in a medium bowl. Add pork and knead with your hands until thoroughly combined. Set aside until needed, at least 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, 7 to 9 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and 1 teaspoon pepper and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add broth and potatoes, scraping up any browned bits, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring often, until potatoes are tender and the rubber spatula leaves a trail when dragged across the bottom of the pot, 15 to 20 minutes.
Add pork to pot, breaking up pieces with a spoon, and cook until no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Transfer filling to 13 by 9-inch baking dish and refrigerate, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until completely cool, about 1 hour. (Cooled filling can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 24 hours before assembling the pie.)
FOR THE CRUST:
Combine sour cream and egg in a bowl. Process flour and salt in a food processor until combined, about 3 seconds. Add butter and pulse until only pea-size pieces remain, about 10 pulses. Add half of the sour cream mixture and pulse until combined, about 5 pulses. Add remaining sour cream mixture and pulse until dough begins to form, about 10 pulses.
Transfer the mixture to a lightly floured counter and knead briefly until dough comes together. Divide dough in half and form each half into a 6-inch disk. Wrap disks tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Let chilled dough sit on the counter to soften slightly, about 10 minutes, before rolling.
Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 450°F. Roll 1 disk of dough into a 12‑inch circle on a lightly floured counter. Loosely roll dough around a rolling pin and gently unroll it onto a 9‑inch pie plate, letting excess dough hang over the edge. Ease dough into the plate by gently lifting the edge of the dough with your hand while pressing it into the plate bottom with your other hand. Wrap dough-lined pie plate loosely in plastic and refrigerate until dough is firm, about 30 minutes. Trim overhang to ½ inch beyond the lip of the pie plate.
Pour filling into a dough-lined pie plate. Roll another disk of dough into a 12‑inch circle on a lightly floured counter. Loosely roll dough around a rolling pin and gently unroll it onto the filling. Trim overhang to ½ inch beyond the lip of the pie plate. Pinch the edges of the top and bottom crusts firmly together. Tuck overhang under itself; folded edge should be flush with the edge of the pie plate. Crimp dough evenly around the edge of the pie plate using your fingers. (If the dough gets too soft to work with, refrigerate the pie for 10 minutes, then continue.)
Cut four 1-inch slits on top of the dough. Brush the surface with egg wash. Bake until the edges are light brown, about 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F and continue to bake until the crust is deep golden brown and liquid bubbles up through vents, 15 to 20 minutes longer. Let the pie cool on a wire rack for 2 hours before serving.
Notes
TO MAKE AHEAD: Wrapped dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month. If frozen, let the dough thaw completely on the counter before rolling. Assembled pie (without egg wash) can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours before brushing with egg wash and baking.PLAN AHEAD: Both the pie dough and the filling need to chill for an hour or more before the pie can be assembled and baked. If time is short, use store-bought dough. Shred the potatoes in the large holes of a box grater just before cooking. Don’t soak the shreds in water, or their starch will wash away, and the filling won’t thicken properly. To cool the filling quickly, chill it in a large baking dish. Eat the pie when it’s just slightly warm.