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.
189 K 3.7/5 (89 reviews)
35 min.
Easy
1 kg 50 g
5 IngredientsLast modified on: January 11th 2017
For 1 kg 50 g, you will need:
- 1
750 g flour - 2
300 g water - 3
15 g fine (or table) salt - 4
3 tablespoons herbes de Provence (optional) - 5
75 g beaten egg (optional) - Total weight: 1,065 grams
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: 750 g flour, 300 g water, 15 g fine (or table) salt and 3 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 | 80 RDI=30 % | 560 RDI=50 % | 20 RDI=4 % | 2,780 RDI=140 % | 11,620 RDI: 140 % |
| 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 1 kg 50 g : 0.85 €
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...
81 K4.1 5 hours 30 min.
This recipe uses (among others)
Flour
Like these other recipes: Ciabatta, Chestnut cake, Nanou's chocolate cake, Chocolate sweetcrust pastry, Sandwich bread, ... See them all 201
Water
Like these other recipes: Steak burger topped with egg, Cornmeal baps for Anne, Mixed seed grissini, Lemon tart, Lumberjack turnovers, ... See them all 136
Fine (or table) salt
Like these other recipes: Pâté de campagne, Chocolate mousse with hazelnuts, Italian Meringue, Coconut sweetcrust pastry, Small cheese and bacon rolls , ... See them all 100
Other recipes you may also like
Saint Honoré cake
The Saint Honoré cake is a famous example of French patisserie. It consists of a puff pastry base surrounded by a ring of caramel-coated choux puffs and topped with whipped cream (Chantilly). It is a bit tricky to make, but this recipe gives you all the hints you need.April 14th 2013130 K4.7 2 hours 55 min.
How to cook potato grenaille
The French call very small potatoes "grenaille". This is a typical way of cooking them: the tiny potatoes are pan-fried in their skins and make an excellent accompanient for meat. Grenaille can be made with any kind of potato; it is a question of size, rather than variety, though I think that...September 16th 2015464 K4.5 45 min.
Flambéd bananas
The trick of this recipe is to end up with bananas caramelised on the outside, still firm on the inside, coated with a tasty syrup which is not 95% butter.February 21th 2011333 K 14 40 min.
Chinois
"Chinese" - what a strange name for this cake! A kind of brioche, filled with confectioner's custard (crème pâtissière) which can be decorated with fondant icing.September 10th 2018270 K 24.7 5 hours 30 min.
Vanilla sugar
Almost essential in patisserie, you can find it in expensive little sachets of about 10g. It's necessary to distinguish between the vanilla sugar which really contains vanilla, and vanillin sugar, purely chemical which has never seen a vanilla pod. Here is how to quickly make a whole jar full of...August 12th 2018425 K 15 30 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-07-13)
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.