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.
214 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: Sauce Normande (for fish), Pogne de Romans, Fillets of sole meunière, Strawberry and rhubarb crumble, Arlesian Biscuits, ... See them all 212
Water
Like these other recipes: Salmon chard rolls, How to rehydrate dried mushrooms, Bacon rolls, How to cook rice in rice-cooker, Italian Meringue, ... See them all 141
Fine (or table) salt
Like these other recipes: Comtoise stuffed tomatoes, Sea bass with Indian spices, Spicy hot toasted cashew nuts, African style chicken, Mixed salad stack, ... See them all 103
Other recipes you may also like
Warm apple feuillantines
It's a rather long recipe but which never fails to impress, perfect for a special dinner party. It's made up of 3 circles: one almond "tuile", 2 of caramelized brik sheets, with a caramelized apple layer between each, whipped cream on top, and custard all around. Everything, except whipped cream, can be made beforehand. May 28th 2012341 K5 3 hours 9 min.
Clarified butter
This is a way of melting butter to eliminate all the impurities. The clarified butter can then be heated without spoiling, and is more digestible. It is ideal for cooking at high temperatures where small black specks would spoil the appearance, or for emulsified sauces like béarnaise or mousseline. June 21th 2017486 K4.2 2 hours 15 min.
Citrus crunch
These are fine crumbs of candied citrus peel. It can be used to sprinkle a dessert or other preparation to add both crunch and the flavour of the chosen citrus fruit. It is easy to prepare well in advance, and will keep in an airtight jar. This recipe is given for clementines, but can be made with all citrus fruits: lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit... February 2nd 2016251 K3.7 1 hour 20 min.
Confectioner's custard (Crème pâtissière, or French pastry cream)
Quite similar to crème anglaise but much thicker. It is used in many pastries like choux pastry (pâte à choux) or millefeuille. January 27th 2017784 K 313.8 40 min.
Sweetcrust pastry (pâte sablée)
Sweetcrust pastry is one of the basic pastry of French patisserie, used in many tart and cakes recipes, but it can also be rolled out and cut into biscuits, delicious with tea or coffee. This recipe is given for those who have a mixer (Kenwood, KitchenAid or other), but it can also be done with your hands. Please note that it's very important to make it several hours before using it, if possible the day before, as then it's much easier to work. July 1st 2019506 K 23.8 35 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2026-03-22)
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.