Pastry! Dice the cold butter as small as you can be bothered. Put this in a large bowl and sift the flour on top. Work the butter and flour through your fingers trying to squish the flour into the butter and cover every part of the butter in flour. You are aiming for a consistency of clumpy sand with no large pieces of butter left.

Add a large pinch of salt and mix through. Add iced water one table spoon at a time and press the dough mixture together to for the dough. You shouldn't need to use much water. Form the dough into two balls one slightly larger than the other. Wrap them in cling film and press flat. store in the fridge.

Place a sturdy baking tray in the oven and preheat to 190C/375F/Gas 5.

Cut the bacon rashers in thirds and fry over a medium heat for 4–5 minutes until the fat is golden and crisp, turning them once. Remove the bacon from the heat and leave to cool.

Roll out the larger ball of dough until it is about 0.5cm/¼in thick and line a greased 23cm/9in pie plate, leaving any excess pastry overhanging the edge.

Scatter half the bacon loosely over the pastry case. Gently break six of the eggs into the pastry case, spacing them evenly between the bacon rashers.

Beat the remaining eggs with the milk and plenty of salt and pepper.

Slowly pour the beaten eggs into the pastry case, stopping every now and then to allow the beaten egg to find its way between the whole eggs and the bacon. Leave 2–3 tablespoons of the mixture in the bowl for glazing the top of the pie. sprinkle the rest of the bacon on top.

Roll out the rest of the pastry to make a lid for the pie. Brush the edge of the pastry case with beaten egg and milk and gently lift the pastry lid over the filling.

Press the edges firmly to seal, then trim. Use a fork to firmly seal the edge all the way around the pie then brush the top with the remaining beaten egg to glaze.

Bake the pie on the preheated baking tray for 40-50 minutes until golden-brown and cooked through.

Test by piercing the centre with a sharp knife – the filling should be just set. If it’s still runny, put the pie back in the oven for a few minutes. Leave to stand for at least 15 minutes before serving.