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.
188 K 3.7/5 (89 reviews)
35 min.
Easy
700 g
5 IngredientsLast modified on: January 11th 2017
For 700 g, you will need:
- 1
780 ml flour - 2
200 ml water - 3
14 ml fine (or table) salt - 4
2 tablespoons herbes de Provence (optional) - 5
50 ml beaten egg (optional)
Change measures:
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: 780 ml flour, 200 ml water, 14 ml fine (or table) salt and 2 tablespoons 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 | 60 RDI=20 % | 370 RDI=40 % | 20 RDI=2 % | 1,850 RDI=90 % | 7,750 RDI: 90 % |
| Per 100 g | 7 RDI=3 % | 50 RDI=5 % | 2 RDI=0 % | 260 RDI=10 % | 1,090 RDI: 10 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 700 g : 0.55 €
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...
80 K4.1 5 hours 30 min.
This recipe uses (among others)
Flour
Like these other recipes: Lemon and lime cakes, Buckwheat almond biscuits, Coconut tuiles, Gâteau Basque , Walnut short bread, ... See them all 201
Water
Like these other recipes: Caramel rice pudding, French baguettes, Cassoulet, Turnip top soup, Quick chicken curry, ... See them all 136
Fine (or table) salt
Like these other recipes: Pâté de campagne, Flamiche, Nachos, Thin summer tart "à la grecque", Mouna, ... See them all 100
Other recipes you may also like
How to cook pasta properly
Here is some advice for pasta that's properly cooked and doesn't stick.July 18th 20191.16 M4.4 25 min.
How to prepare cabbage
Cabbage can be used cooked or raw, whole leaves or in julienne. Here is how to prepare a cabbage julienne.December 31th 20131.13 M 13.4 45 min.
How to make fleur de sel (salt flakes)
French "fleur de sel" is a salt with a special texture, formed by the action of the wind on salt marshs. The wind dries the surface of the water which has a high salt concentration (this will later become sea salt) producing thin flaky crystals.May 4th 2011245 K 43.9 1 hour 7 min.
How to cook caramelized puff pastry well
When puff pastry is caramelized to use in patisseries like millefeuille, French chefs call it a "feuilletage" (which means "lamination" or "leafing"). This is baked on its own before being assembled with cream, fruit, etc. The baking needs to be carefully managed: the pastry should puff into layers,...September 3rd 2017281 K 24.9 40 min.
Zucchini and potato scarpaccia
Scarpaccia is a recipe from Tuscany, Italy, a simple but delicious zucchini and potato cake with Parmesan cheese.October 16th 202417 K5 1 hour 30 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-07-06)
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.