Meat Pies

In my opinion, the British influence on Australian cuisine is perhaps most evident in their mutual love of meat pies. The recipe I found online makes either one large pie or four smaller ones, so I opted for the hand-held versions. We're heading out for our road trip tomorrow, and I bet the leftovers will be amazing served cold.

As tonight's dinner, they were fantastic! Puff pastry is just so decadent, and the filling is luscious. They're somewhat heartier than American "pot pies," since they don't include vegetables. If you want, you could easily add some chopped veggies into the meat mixture. I love the herbs and spices this recipe uses, especially that dash of nutmeg. I used extra-lean (93%) ground beef to lighten it up a little, as well as unsalted beef broth to control the sodium.

Here's how I made them:

1¼ lb extra-lean ground beef

1 onion, diced

¾ cup low-sodium beef broth

¼ cup ketchup

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp dried oregano

½ tsp ground nutmeg

Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

¼ cup water

3 Tbsp flour

2 sheets (1 pkg) puff pastry

Preheat the oven to 450°. 

In a large skillet, so there's room for any liquid to evaporate, brown the meat and onion. Then, add the broth, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, oregano, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Mix the flour and water till smooth and add it to the meat mixture. Let cool.

Meanwhile, grease your pie pan(s) and line the bottoms with pastry, letting it overhang the edges a little (you may need to roll out the dough to make it fit your pan(s)). Add the cooled filling, brush the pastry edges with milk or a beaten egg, and top with the remaining pastry. Crimp the edges and brush the tops with more milk/egg.

Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375° and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes or till the crust is deep golden brown.