Lemon Meringue Pie with Thyme Pastry

1. Make the pastry. Place the flour, icing sugar and cubed chilled butter into a good sized bowl. Rub the butter into the flour and icing sugar between your thumb and finger tips, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Mix in the finely chopped thyme leaves. Make a well in the centre of the breadcrumbs and add the beaten egg. Using a rounded pallet knife, or similar, cut through the mixture to make a dough. You may need to add a little cold water to fully bring the mixture together. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and lightly knead the dough for 10 seconds. Shape the pastry into a ball and flatten into a disc. Wrap in cling film and place into the fridge for at least 30 minutes to chill.2. Line the flan tin. Remove the pastry from the fridge and place onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll the pastry out until it is nice and thin, about 2mm. Wrap the pastry around the rolling pin, lift it up (using the pin) and place into the flan tin. Gently tease the pastry into the case so that it sits into the edges well and picks up the shape of the fluted sides. If the pastry tears, patch it with surplus pastry. If the pastry overhangs the sides of the flan tin excessively, use a pair of clean scissors to trim off some of the excess. Use a fork to gently prick the pastry base. Place into the fridge to chill for about 15 minutes.3. Pre-heat the oven to 190c / 170 fan / Gas 5. Place a flat baking sheet onto the middle shelf which is large enough to house the flan tin.4. Blind bake the pastry. Remove the lined flan tin from the fridge. Cut a sheet of grease proof paper large enough to cover the flan tin. Scrunch it up and open it out. Gently lay it on top of the pastry, easing it into the edges. Weigh the paper down with baking beans or uncooked rice. Place into the oven (on the heated baking tray) and cook for 11 minutes. After 11 minutes, remove it from the oven and place on cooling tray. Use a small sharp knife to carefully trim the excess pastry from the edge of the tart. Place the pastry case back into the oven, with the baking beans/rice and cook for a further 4 minutes. Remove the baking beans / rice and baking paper and cook for a further 5 minutes. Remove the pastry case from the oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack. Keep the baking tray in the oven.5. Reduce the oven temperature to 160c / 140 Fan / Gas 3.6. Meanwhile make the lemon curd filling. Mix the egg yolks and sugar together and set aside. Wash the lemons thoroughly, especially if they are waxed. Finely grate the zest and juice of the lemons. Place the cornflour into a heavy based pan. Add the lemon zest & juice and mix together to make a smooth paste. Add the boiling water, stiring all of the time. Set the pan over a medium heat and cook until it is very thick, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Remove the pan from the heat and add the egg yolks and sugar mixture. Mix thoroughly. Replace the pan back onto the heat. Continue stirring allowing the mixture to thicken. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. 7. Prepare to make the Swiss meringue. Ensure that your bowl and electric beaters are scrupulously clean and free of any grease. Part fill a pan with water and sit the bowl over it to make a bain marie. Ensure the water in the ban doesn't touch the base of the bowl. Set the pan over a medium flame. 8. Make the Swiss meringue. Add the egg whites and all of the sugar to the bowl. Use the beaters to combine the sugar and egg whites. Continue beating. The egg whites will soon start to thicken, turn white and increase in volume. Constantly whip the egg whites to prevent them from cooking on the base of the pan. You're aiming for the sugar to completely dissolve into the meringue mixture. Test this by rubbing a little of the meringue between your fingers - it should no longer feel grainy. This stage will take around 8-10 minutes. Place a piece of kitchen roll or a clean tea-towel onto your work surface. Once the sugar has fully dissolved remove the bowl from the pan and sit it on the prepared area. Continue beating the meringue until it has completely cooled. The meringue will thicken even more and will be glossy and shiny.9. Assemble the meringue pie. Stir the lemon curd filling and pour into the pastry case. Use the back of a spoon to level off the curd mixture if necessary. 10. Top with the Swiss meringue. EITHER spoon the meringue onto the lemon curd filling and spread it out to the pastry edges. Use a knife to create peaks in the meringue. OR, fill a piping bag fitted with a nozzle (I use a star nozzle) with the meringue. Starting from the pastry edge, pipe rosettes all over the lemon curd filling. Add extra rosettes to fill and exposed lemon filling, and allowing the height of the meringue to build up. Wipe away any meringue which touches the metal flan case as it will act as a glue and make it difficult to remove from the case once baked. 11. Bake the lemon meringue pie. Place the flan tin into the oven (on the preheated baking tray) and bake for 25 - 30 minutes. You may need to rotate the tart after 15 minutes of baking. The pie is ready when the meringue is light golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes in the flan tin. Remove from the tin carefully (perhaps using a cake transfer to lift it off the base) and place it onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Notes:  a) The quantity of pastry made here is likely to result in a surplus.  The excess pastry could be used in another bake - perhaps some lemon curd tarts or a lemon curd turn-over.  It can also freeze well, once wrapped thoroughly.  Alternatively, halve the pastry ingredients and roll your pastry thinly to successfully line the tart.  b)  Consider using lemon thyme instead of thyme in the pastry.  c)  Please be careful not to knock your bowl and pan of hot water over whilst beating the Swiss meringue.  d)  As well as using your fingers to esure that the sugar has has fully dissolved into the meringue,  you can also use a thermometer to ensure it has reached the correct temperature.  It is ready when it reaches a temperature of 73c / 163f, though I didn't use a thermometer.