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.
213 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...
93 K4.1 5 hours 30 min.
This recipe uses (among others)
Flour
Like these other recipes: Spring veal sauté , Coconut tuiles, Checkerboard biscuits, Moist Lemon Cake, Little lemon biscuits, ... See them all 211
Water
Like these other recipes: Praline, Pitta bread, Butter cream, Minted Melon, French Family Cake, ... See them all 141
Fine (or table) salt
Like these other recipes: Puff or flaky pastry (pâte feuilletée), Flamiche, New leavened bread, Nachos, Cheese and tomato tart, ... See them all 103
Other recipes you may also like
Sandwich bread
Soft and moist, almost like brioche, it can be made in a tin or mould or as a classic long French-style loaf. October 24th 2017370 K3.9 3 hours 30 min.
Filo leeks and cheese tart
This is a very quick tart recipe, where the crust is made by a stacking filo pastry sheets. April 17th 2022309 K4.3 1 hour 15 min.
Like Bounty
You will no doubt be familiar with Bounty, the chocolate-covered coconut bar. Here's a melt-in-the-mouth version "on a plate" for a chic dessert. August 1st 2011162 K4.6 1 hour 55 min.
French onion soup
This warming onion soup is an emblematic French dish, both in bistro cuisine and home cooking. This is a very classic version. The long, slow cooking is the secret to revealing its full flavour. December 30th 201986 K 23.8 2 hours 30 min.
Exotic fruit tart
An exotic fruit tart (bananas, kiwi and pineapple), with crisp pastry and almond cream which are cooked beforehand. It's a rather simple recipe, but the final result will impress your guests. May 27th 2020340 K5 2 hours 25 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2026-03-08)
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.