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.
181 K 3.7/5 (89 reviews)
35 min.
Easy
175 g
5 IngredientsLast modified on: January 11th 2017
For 175 g, you will need:
- 1
125 g flour - 2
50 g water - 3
2.5 g fine (or table) salt - 4
½ tablespoon herbes de Provence (optional) - 5
15 g beaten egg (optional) - Total weight: 180 grams
Change measures:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 15 min.
Resting: 20 min.
All in all: 35 min.
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: 19:00.Change end time
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - 3 min.
Prepare the dough
Put into a food-mixer bowl: 125 g flour, 50 g water, 2.5 g fine (or table) salt and ½ 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.
Nutritional information
| Proteins (gr) | Carbohydrates (gr) | Fats (gr) | Energy value (in k-calories) | Energy value (in k-joules) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole recipe | 10 RDI=6 % | 90 RDI=9 % | 4 RDI=1 % | 470 RDI=20 % | 1,970 RDI: 20 % |
| Per 100 g | 8 RDI=3 % | 50 RDI=5 % | 2 RDI=0 % | 260 RDI=10 % | 1,110 RDI: 10 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 175 g : 0.15 €
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...
75 K4.1 5 hours 30 min.
This recipe uses (among others)
Flour
Like these other recipes: Pink Reims biscuits, Béarnaise sauce, Chocolate madeleines, Naan, Pitta bread, ... See them all 199
Water
Like these other recipes: Peanut rolls, Sugar syrup, Sausage and lentils "en cocotte", Pilau rice, Provençal braised carrots, ... See them all 134
Fine (or table) salt
Like these other recipes: Souda salad, Hasselback or "Swedish-style" potatoes, Cramique, Rémoulade dressing, Brioche dough, ... See them all 99
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 2010293 K 14.2 15 min.
Cabbage julienne with ham
A quick recipe: cabbage julienne cooked English style, pan-fried ribbons of ham, a knob of butter and some parsley, and it's ready.December 31th 2013227 K 34.1 30 min.
Blanquette of veal
Blanquette is a classic dish of French family cooking, but can also be found in bistros. Veal is cooked slowly, and the sauce is thickened with a mixture of egg yolks and cream. I have set out a rather special way of making it.February 5th 2015417 K4.4 2 hours 50 min.
Oat financiers for Louise
These moist little petit-four cakes are called 'financiers' in French, as they are similar in shape to gold ingots! They go very well with tea or coffee. In this version, the usual ground almonds are replaced with rolled oats, blended to a powdery texture.October 21th 2012110 K 23.9 45 min.
Preserved lemons
For this recipe, the lemons are sliced first (this makes them easier to use later), then salted to drain off the juice before being bottled in herb-flavoured olive oil. These preserved lemons can be used in all sorts of dishes, especially with fish and poultry.December 2nd 2012126 K 15 12 hours 40 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-03-30)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Follow this recipe (as 5 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.