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.
182 K 3.7/5 (89 reviews)
35 min.
Easy
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
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: 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.
Nutritional information
| Proteins (gr) | Carbohydrates (gr) | Fats (gr) | Energy value (in k-calories) | Energy value (in k-joules) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole recipe | 30 RDI=10 % | 190 RDI=20 % | 8 RDI=1 % | 930 RDI=50 % | 3,870 RDI: 50 % |
| 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 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...
75 K4.1 5 hours 30 min.
This recipe uses (among others)
Flour
Like these other recipes: Nanou's apple and almond cake, Panettone, Pistachio shortbread biscuits, Fresh pasta dough, Oaty walnut cake , ... See them all 200
Water
Like these other recipes: Seeded loaf, Pitta bread, Two-olive ciabatta, Steak burger topped with egg, Leek and potato soup, ... See them all 134
Fine (or table) salt
Like these other recipes: Thin summer tart "à la grecque", Cubed salad, Paté en croute (terrine in a pie crust), Puff or flaky pastry (pâte feuilletée), Mixed salad stack, ... See them all 99
Other recipes you may also like
Bouquet garni
Used very frequently in French cuisine, a secret of French chefs, it adds flavour to a lot of recipes, and it's easy to prepare. The basic principle is to make a small bundle of herbs, bind them in green leek leaves and to tie it up, so that the whole thing can be removed and discarded easily after...March 21th 2017417 K3.5 15 min.
Pumpkin (or potimarron) soup
A smooth and fragrant soup, it's much better with potimarron (Japanese chestnut pumpkin) than ordinary pumpkin.October 13th 2010338 K4.1 1 hour 10 min.
Succès praliné (praline meringue)
The "succès" (success) is a classic of traditional French patisserie, made with two layers of almond meringue filled with praline butter cream. It's very rich and a little old-fashioned these days, but still has many faithful fans. The original recipe comes from the master chef Gaston Lenôtre, and...June 20th 2010373 K 34.1 4 hours 20 min.
Elsa's Comtoise galette
This galette is a classic Comtois dessert that resembles choux pastry (pâte à choux).January 20th 201397 K4 50 min.
Amiens macaroons
These macaroons, famous since the 16th century, are small, soft almond-flavoured cakes. This recipe is much easier to make than the one for the classic Parisian macarons.February 13th 201397 K5 50 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-04-20)
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.