Meat Pie Recipe

For many years my mother was a nurse at the local clinic, about twenty minutes away from home. She only used to go to town to get some money from the bank and do her monthly shopping. On these trips that is when my mother would buy us some takeaway. Back then there was no pizza in Zimbabwe so it was either chicken and chips or meat pies. It was something me and siblings looked forward to, so towards month end we would behave. If you did not behave you would get nothing! My mother stuck to her punishments.

We always imagined that pie making was difficult, it was not something that my mother or anyone I could learn from knew how to make. When I was newly married I found pre-made frozen crust and still I imagined that it was hard to make until I saw Ina Garten making pie crust. I can not tell you how elated I was when I successfully made my own pie. It was like walking on the moon for me ( I always feel this way when I have made something I thought would be difficult).

I use shortcrust pastry for my pies, largely because it is easy. The trick is 2 parts flour to one part cold butter. The less rubbing in you do the more flaky your dough will be. You should be able to see little pieces of your butter.

Print

Meat Pie Recipe

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes

Servings 3

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup cold unsalted butter cubed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup Ice water
• 1 lb ground beef
• 3 carrots cubed
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1 medium onion diced
• 1 potato cubed
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Rub in flour, salt and butter until it resembles the consistency of bread crumbs.
2. Add the water little by little mixing the dough until all the bits of flour and water are incorporated. If you add too much water the dough will be sticky.
3. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and rest it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven at 350F.
5. Mix the meat and the vegetables and add pepper and salt.
6. Lightly flour a flat surface and your rolling pin. Roll out your dough starting from the centre, turning it around. Do not try to stretch your dough it will just come back to its original size. Roll it out to about a quarter inch thick.
7. To make the pies I use a plate and cut around it with a knife and then place the filling on one size to allow to fold over.
8. Moisten the edges with water to make "glue" and fold over. You can use a fork to press the edges or use your hands like I did. I place the pies on a lined baking sheet to make for easy cleaning.
9. Brush the pies with milk and bake for 45 minutes.