Pimp My Pie: Ned Kelly Pie

Hello Team Australia and welcome to the third installment of Pimp My Pie.

Today we'll be cooking a legendary Aussie pie: the Ned Kelly. There is some debate about the origins of this pie, some folks say the name is just Aussie rhyming slang for "Egg Jelly", but others maintain the pie was invented by the man himself ...

The legend goes that when they finally got Ned to the gallows in 1880 to pay for his crimes, he was asked if he had any last wishes. Now ol' Ned never had much love for the coppers and saw one last opportunity for a laugh at their expense: "Mate I do. What I want right is a meat pie, but I don't want any pastry on the top. What I want for the lid is a baked egg, topped with bacon and cheese". The jacks knew he was having a laugh, but they weren't about to deny the man his dying wish either. So the Sarge went off (this is actually where the name "Sargent's Pies" came from too) and baked him the pie as requested. Ned ate his pie and exclaimed 'Streuth! that was a bloody good pie!'.

Ned was pretty stoked with him self, not only had he prolonged his life for another 50 minutes, he'd also gotten to eat a bloody ripper of a pie before he went. Now legend has it, that the copper who baked the pie went home and baked one for himself and it was so bloody good he ended up quitting the force and opening up a bakery ... and that my friends is how the Ned Kelly pie came to be, or so the story goes ...

Ingredients:

• 4 Sargent's Traditional Meat Pies
• 6 rashers short cut bacon
• 150g of your favourite Aussie cheese
• 4 free range eggs

Method:

• Pre-heat oven to 170 degrees C. (160 fan forced)
• As always, give your pies a quick rinse under the tap - this ensures they don't become too dehydrated
• Place your pies on to a baking tray and into the oven
• Pan fry your bacon in some olive oil, lightly browning - dice 4 rashers and slice the other two in half
• Thinly slice half of your favourite cheese, grate remaining half
• Remove your pies from the oven after 15m and remove lids with a serrated knife
• Crack an egg into the top of each pie, careful not to taint your pies with any shell
• Sprinkle diced bacon and grated cheese on top of each egg
• Place half rashers and sliced cheese on the underside of the pie lids (don't put them back on the pies)
• Return pies and lids to the oven for another 25m, egg yolks should be hard cooked (grill briefly if necessary)
• Serve with your favourite sauce

These pies are even more filling than the Steak n Cheese n Bacon pies from last week so you probably won't need anything on the side.

Got beef with bacon? Simply replace the bacon ... actually no, what's your problem mate? The stuff's delicious.

We hope you've enjoyed the third installment of Pimp My Pie. Next week will be the final piece in the series, where we take on the pie to end all pies: the Pie with the Lot. Make sure you've completed Pie Mod 101, 102 and 103, as this pie will call upon everything we've learnt so far and is definitely not for the amateur pieman.