Sift the flour into a bowl. Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Tip in a pinch of salt, the water and the egg. Mix with a knife to give a crumbly mixture, then with cool hands work all the ingredients together into a dough. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film and leave it to stand for 2 hours in the refrigerator.

To make the filling: mix the minced meat and eggs together in a bowl and season with salt, paprika, pepper, rubbed marjoram and parsley.

Remove any fat and skin from the chicken livers, then wash, dry and cut them into 2.5 cm (1 in) cubes.

Heat the butter in a frying pan, brown the liver, turning frequently, and leave it to cool. Trim the mushrooms, shorten the stalks slightly, wash and drain them well. Cut larger mushrooms into halves or quarters.

On a lightly floured worktop roll half the pastry to a square 30 x 30 cm (12 x 12 in) and the remaining half into a square 35 x 35 cm (14 x 14 in). Place the smaller - square of pastry on a baking tray and spread it with the minced meat mixture, leav-, ing 2.5 cm (1 in) free round the edges. Press the liver and mushrooms lightly into the meat at intervals.

Smooth the meat and cover it with the larger sheet of pastry. Cut off any excess pastry and press the edges firmly together with a fork.

Roll out the pastry trimmings and cut into rounds with a small, fluted cutter. Brush the pie with beaten egg yolk, decorate with the pastry rounds and brush these with egg yolk. Cut out the centre of each round to allow the steam to escape during baking.

Bake the pie on the second shelf from the bottom of a moderately hot oven (200°C, 400°F, gas 6) for 1 hour 20 minutes.

Serve with: a highly seasoned lamb's lettuce salad.

If liked, you can also sprinkle the minced meat with small, crisp-fried cubes of bacon.