How to seal a terrine or casserole dish


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.
189 K 3.7/5 (89 reviews)
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Last modified on: January 11th 2017
For 350 g, you will need:

Change these quantities to make:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 15 min.
Resting: 20 min.
All in all: 35 min.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
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Step by step recipe


Stage 1 - 3 min.
How to seal a terrine or casserole dish

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.
How to seal a terrine or casserole dish
Knead until the dough begins to hold together.

For sealing, there is no need to work the dough any more than this.

Stage 3 - 20 min.
How to seal a terrine or casserole dish
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.

Stage 4
How to seal a terrine or casserole dish

Sealing the dish

Roll the dough into a long "sausage" 1/2 to 1 inch (1 or 2 cm) thick.

Stage 5
How to seal a terrine or casserole dish
The roll needs to be long enough to go all the way round the lid of your dish.

Stage 6
How to seal a terrine or casserole dish
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.

Stage 7 - 5 min.
How to seal a terrine or casserole dish
Put the lid on top and press firmly to seal. The lid should have sunk some way into the dough.

Stage 8 - 2 min.
How to seal a terrine or casserole dish
It is not essential, but I recommend glazing the dough seal.

Stage 9
How to seal a terrine or casserole dish
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.
Nutritional information
Proteins (gr)Carbohydrates (gr)Fats (gr)Energy value (in k-calories)Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe30 RDI=10 %190 RDI=20 %8 RDI=1 %930 RDI=50 %3,870 RDI: 50 %
Per 100 g7 RDI=3 %50 RDI=5 %2 RDI=0 %260 RDI=10 %1,090 RDI: 10 %
The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman Change to a man
Possible allergens in this recipe: Gluten, egg
How much will it cost?
  • For 350 g : 0.30 €

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Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
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