Pastel de lengua (ox tongue pie)

You can cook the ox tongue in a slow cooker. I did. I put the tongue in the slow cooker with a cup of water, salt, the peppercorns, onion, garlic and bay leaves. Two hours on high, seven hours on low, then I left the tongue in the cooker to cool for several hours where, presumably, it continued to cook.

You can also use a pressure cooker which should make the tongue tender in about two hours and a half.

Or, you can do it the old school way. In a thick bottomed pot over low heat for four to six hours.

Cool the tongue then peel off the coarse skin. If the tongue has been sufficiently cooked, the skin will come off easily. If you’re just prepping, wrap the tongue in cling film and refrigerate until the day you intend to serve it. It’ll be okay in the fridge for a day or two.

To assemble and bake the pie, cut the ox tongue into one-inch cubes. Cut all the vegetables that you’re using to roughly the size of the meat. As to the amount of vegetables, I suggest that the maximum should be equal to the amount of meat. Of course, you can use less.

Heat the butter in a frying pan. Cook the vegetables — add the ones that cook longest and add the ones that need the shortest cooking time last. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

When the vegetables are done (don’t overcook them!), add the cubed tongue and cook, tossing often, until the meat is heated through.

Turn off the heat. Transfer the meat and vegetables into a pie dish or ramekins. Cool. You need to cool the pie filling before laying on the crust. Otherwise, the steam build-up will push the crust upward creating an air pocket between the filling and the crust. So, cool the filling. Half an hour to 45 minutes should do it.

When the filling has cooled, preheat the oven — anywhere from 375F to 400F.

Pour the cream over the filling (divide the cream equally among the ramekins if that’s what you’re using).

Roll out the crust and cover the pie dish or ramekins with it. Pierce the crust to create vents then brush with the beaten egg ( see illustration ). Bake until the filling is bubbly and the crust is nicely browned — about 25 minutes if using ramekins; about 40 minutes if using a full-sized pie dish.