This site uses only a few technical cookies necessary for its operation. By continuing to browse, you accept their use.
To find out more...
To find out more...
How to seal a terrine or casserole dish
The French have a term for it: "luter", which means to seal around the lid of a cooking dish with dough.
The dough forms a crust and hermetically seals in all the steam and flavours while the dish is cooking in the oven.
This is a good way to concentrate flavours. The dish is brought to the table sealed and the crust broken open in front of diners so that everyone can share the delicious smells as they are released at that fleeting moment.
It is possible to use ordinary bread dough, but an unleavened (or "dead") dough, with neither natural leaven nor yeast will work better.
The dough forms a crust and hermetically seals in all the steam and flavours while the dish is cooking in the oven.
This is a good way to concentrate flavours. The dish is brought to the table sealed and the crust broken open in front of diners so that everyone can share the delicious smells as they are released at that fleeting moment.
It is possible to use ordinary bread dough, but an unleavened (or "dead") dough, with neither natural leaven nor yeast will work better.
216 K 3.7/5 (90 reviews)
35 min.
Easy
1.10 €
350 g
5 IngredientsLast modified on: January 11th 2017
For 350 g, you will need:
- 1
250 g flour - 2
100 g water - 3
5 g fine (or table) salt - 4
1 tablespoon herbes de Provence (optional) - 5
25 g beaten egg (optional) - Total weight: 355 grams
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 15 min.
Resting: 20 min.
All in all: 35 min.
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - ⌛ 3 min.
Prepare the dough
Put into a food-mixer bowl: 250 g flour, 100 g water, 5 g fine (or table) salt and 1 tablespoon herbes de Provence (see more about this below).Stage 2 - ⌛ 3 min.
Knead until the dough begins to hold together.
For sealing, there is no need to work the dough any more than this.
For sealing, there is no need to work the dough any more than this.
Stage 3 - ⌛ 20 min.
Gather the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic film and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
This dough can easily be made the day before using, or even several days in advance and frozen.
This dough can easily be made the day before using, or even several days in advance and frozen.
Stage 4
Sealing the dish
Roll the dough into a long "sausage" 1/2 to 1 inch (1 or 2 cm) thick.Stage 5
The roll needs to be long enough to go all the way round the lid of your dish.
Stage 6
Fill the dish with whatever you are going to cook: meat, vegetables, fish, etc. The dish is empty in these photos as they are just to show the idea.
Lay the roll of dough around the top edge of the dish, pressing gently to hold it in place.
Lay the roll of dough around the top edge of the dish, pressing gently to hold it in place.
Stage 7 - ⌛ 5 min.
Put the lid on top and press firmly to seal. The lid should have sunk some way into the dough.
Stage 8 - ⌛ 2 min.
It is not essential, but I recommend glazing the dough seal.
Stage 9
Cook as long as required for the recipe.
Remarks
The herbes de Provence are added to make the dough more attractive and they smell wonderful during cooking. You can perfume your dough with different herbs or spices to complement whatever is in the dish.
Keeping: Several days in the fridge, covered with plastic film. Freezes very well.
Source: Home made.
How much will it cost?
- For 350 g : 0.30 €
Change currency:
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
Some other recipes using this recipe
Melt-in-the mouth meat and vegetables in a sealed casserole
In this recipe a good joint of beef is slow-cooked, surrounded by an assortment of vegetables in small chunks. To concentrate the flavours, the cooking time should be long at a moderate temperature and, most important of all, the dish should be sealed. By the end of cooking, the vegetables will be...
94 K4.1 5 hours 30 min.
This recipe uses (among others)
Flour
Like these other recipes: Rabbit civet "à la normande", "Moelleux" cake batter, Provençal colombier for Pentecost, Fish in a sesame crust, Cod loin with saffron, ... See them all 214
Water
Like these other recipes: Chocolate Chantilly , French onion soup, Cornmeal baps for Anne, Stewed apple (compote), Stewed plums, ... See them all 141
Fine (or table) salt
Like these other recipes: Rémoulade dressing, Yeast-based flaky dough (for croissants), Mustard baps, Chestnut moelleux, Thin summer tart "à la grecque", ... See them all 105
Other recipes you may also like
Coconut paste
Similar to marzipan or walnut paste, coconut paste can be used in a variety of cake or sweet recipes, but you can enjoy munching it just as it is. October 13th 2010312 K 14.2 15 min.
Chocolate Chantilly
If we look at the more scientific side of Chantilly cream we can see that it's mainly cream, and cream is a mix of very small droplets of milk fat and water, which is called an emulsion. When we whip this emulsion, we incorporate air into it and so create a mousse or foam. In the end Chantilly is a foaming emulsion. The interest of this observation is that we can imagine doing the same not only with cream. We just need water and... September 25th 2013193 K5 15 min.
Endive and walnut salad
This salad has a double dose of walnut flavour: walnut oil in the vinaigrette and crunchy walnut kernels. May 11th 201493 K4.9 25 min.
Dried apricots
Making your own dried apricots at home is perfectly feasible. It's really quite simple, though it takes a long time. Basically, the apricots need to be cut in half, destoned, then the halves put to dry slowly for several hours in a cool oven. July 12th 2023162 K3.9 6 hours 6 min.
Armagnac marzipan
Almost the same as plain marzipan, but this almond paste is flavoured with a hint of Armagnac or Cognac. September 12th 201865 K4.8 9 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2026-04-19)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Follow this recipe (as 7 people already do)
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.