Another N.Z. Classic-The Meat Pie

Ok, so we've been craving Kiwi classics around our house. Maybe it's due to the fact we won't be able to travel there for some time. :(

You can't visit New Zealand without running into a meat pie shop or one in every servo (a serving station/gas station). And you would be seriously missing out on a bunch of deliciousness if you didn't indulge in many of these during your trip. With an endless amount of flavors available, it's hard not to find one you'll drool over.

I decided to keep it classic last night and made Mince (ground beef) and Cheese pies for our family dinner. I usually just pull out a package of frozen puff pastry to use, but decided to finally try my hand at making my own and it was a success. I won't go into that recipe here, but I used the recipe from An Italian in My Kitchen and it was pretty simple.

What IS a meat pie? Well, basically it's an individual pie that has been filled with a meat stew/gravy mixture and cheese usually. You can basically mix up any meat and veggie stew mixture, make sure the gravy isn't too runny and put it in a mini pie shell and top with pastry or with mashed potato. Its savory and delicious and is best served with tomato sauce (ketchup), Thai sweet chili or BBQ sauce. I like to serve mine with a green salad on the side as well.

So, without further adieu, here is the recipe for these delightful little morsels.

Ingredients:

3 garlic cloves minced

1 tsp olive oil

1 lb ground beef

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp Soy sauce

1/3 c flour

1/2 tsp pepper

2 c beef stock

1/2 cup shredded cheese (cheddar, gruyere, mozzarella)

2 sheets frozen puff pastry

1 egg scrambled with a tsp of water

6 mini pie tins

In a skillet, heat oil and cook garlic for a minute before adding ground beef. Cook beef over med-high heat, breaking it up until it is no longer pink. Turn heat to low and add Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Soy sauce and pepper and mix until combined. Sprinkle in the flour, stir it in and cook for an additional minute. Then add half your stock and stir. Add remaining stock and turn up the heat a bit. Simmer for 30 mins or until it has thickened. Let cool.

Roll out your puff pasty and cut 6 rounds slightly bigger than your 6 mini pie tins. Line your tins with pastry and fill half way with meat mixture. Top each with shredded cheese and then with rounds of pastry that are just the size of the top of the tin. Fold over bottom pastry to seal the two pieces and cut a couple of small slits in the top of the pastry to let steam out while baking. Brush pastry with egg wash.

Bake pies at 400F for 25-30 mins or until golden. Let stand a few minutes before serving with your choice of sauce.