ham & cheese slab pie

When I hear the term slab pie, thoughts of fruit filling spread out on a sheet pan covered with pastry dough come to mind. Close enough. Only this time, instead of a sweet dessert we’ll be creating a tray full of savory hand-held servings of deliciousness. Ham & Cheese Slab Pie for the win.

The texture and flavor of the filling remind me of chicken pot pie. Only this one is more compact and way cuter than your typical pot pie. There’s no chicken but you will find lots of ham and gooey gruyere cheese. Soooo …the best place to start on this is at the beginning. With the pastry dough which, by the way, can be made a day or two ahead of time. Just store it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.

It all comes together so easily in your food processor. Start with the flour, cubed butter, salt & pepper. Give it a few quick pulses until the mixture resembles pea-size crumbs. Add the cut-up cream cheese and steadily pulse until it all comes together. That should happen in less than a minute.

I used Bob’s Red Mill White Unbleached All-Purpose Flour but if you need to make a gluten-free version, replace that with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour for the dough as well as in the filling.

Since you’ll be lining the pan with a layer of dough, then finishing the slab pie with another layer you’ll need a double batch of pastry dough. Unless you have a super huge food processor, you’ll need to process two separate batches. The dough is very easy to work with. Place each batch in a gallon-size resealable plastic bag. Gently smooth it out with a rolling pin to form a rectangle. It helps to be sure that the air is removed from the bag before sealing and rolling.

Place the bags of dough in the refrigerator for at least one hour or until ready to use. Now …let’s talk about that delicious ham & cheese filling. For the ham, I like to use Hatfield’s Classic Boneless Pre-Sliced Ham. Typically, the package will contain about 2 pounds. For this recipe, you’ll nee just 1 pound of cubed ham but I don’t mind having too much. The extra ham is so good when fried up with eggs. Also, as a side note …I always trim away the dark edges on each slice beforehand.

To be totally honest, there’s quite a bit of prep work on this. Totally worth it. And keep in mind that the pie can be assembled and refrigerated (unbaked) a full day in advance. Or you can bake it ahead of time, refrigerate, and reheat it just before serving. Since this is such a great dish for a large crowd, making it ahead of time is a good thing in my book.

The mixture needs to cool down a bit before adding the flour and shredded cheese. While that’s happening, why not get to work on shaping that pastry dough? You’ll be using a 15″ by 10″ baking pan for this. When you roll out the dough, you’ll make it larger than the pan so that it can be fitted into the corners with some excess hanging over the edges. Don’t get rid of that excess dough! You’ll need it if you want to decorate the top of the pie.

The filling should be cool enough now to add the flour and cheese. Once that is well combined, add it to the pan in an even layer.

Now it’s time to cover your creation with that second batch of pastry dough. If you prefer (or if your time is limited) you can simply roll out the dough, fold it in quarters then carefully unfold it and cover the filling in the pan. Trim the excess and seal the edges.

But if you are like me and you love a challenge, let’s have some fun with this! Roll out the dough to a thickness of about an 1/8 of an inch. Love my adjustable rolling pin for this part! You should have a rectangle measuring around 12″ by 17″. In the center of the dough, measure and mark up a rectangle of 10″ by 15″. Cut away the excess saving it for the final decoration. Cut the 10″ by 15″ rectangle into ten 5″ by 3″ rectangles.

This is where you can really get creative. Use the excess dough to form trimmings to decorate each rectangle as desired. You can cut strips to make stripes or form a basket-weave pattern as I have here. Or you could use very small cookie cutters, such as hearts or stars, to create your own unique designs. When ready, use a floured wide spatula or bench scraper to transfer each rectangle onto your filling so they form neat rows.

A light coating of egg wash over the entire surface and this beauty is ready for the oven. One note of advice …keep an eye on the crust to be sure the edges don’t get too brown. I find that it’s helpful to use strips of foil to cover the edges about halfway through the baking process. And if the entire surface seems to be browning too quickly, cover the whole thing with a loose tent of foil then remove it for the last few minutes.

Talk about a crowd-pleaser. This is delicious while still warm from the oven. Or at room temperature. It can be eaten with a knife and fork. Or, better yet, as a hand-held meal.

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the link. I have personally experienced all of these products, and I recommend them because I have found them to be of superior quality. We appreciate your support.

More hearty dishes…