There’s much to miss when you leave your homeland & live abroad. The obvious things of course – family, old friends, familiarity &…the food. I miss Australian food A LOT. Aussie meat pies included. On a grey, chilly day nothing beats a hot pie & a cuppa. This is nostalgia: encased in buttery shortcrust pastry, a rich beef filling & a flaky pastry top.
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Requiring a few basic ingredients, these meat pies rely on a good beef filling & excellent pastry. Two pastries – homemade & store-bought. For the base I use hot water pastry because it’s robust enough to contain the beef filling. Yet buttery enough to be short & delicious. Relax, hot water pastry is easy to make, just follow my recipe below & you’ll have success.
The best Aussie meat pies are the ones from bakeries. Good bakeries. Small hole-in-the-wall bakeries. This one tastes true-blue, fair-dinkum, just-like- home to me. I’m certain if I gathered a room full of my fellow countrymen together, we’d each tout different ideas of what makes a meat pie great. This is my version.
Although enjoying these meat pies in my cozy house in the US isn’t quite the same as sitting outside a pie shop on Sydney’s northern beaches, balancing the pie, with its scalding filling on my lap, as I squirt the obligatory ketchup over the top, it does tastes like the real deal. But, if you’ve never been fortunate enough to enjoy a pie in Australia, you’re just going to have to take my word for it. Lovoni xo
Here’s the link for the pie pans I bought from Ace Hardware. Or use disposable ones, just make sure you order the right size (check recipe) – both work.
Aussie Meat Pies
Equipment
- individual pie pans
Ingredients
MEAT FILLING
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup diced onion
- 2 lbs ground beef (80/20) minced beef (907g)
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2/3 cup tomato ketchup
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
HOT WATER PASTRY
- 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter, chopped (6oz/170g)
- 1 cup water
- 2 2/3 cups all purpose flour, approximately plain flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
PUFF PASTRY TOPS
- 1 x 17.3 oz store-bought puffed pastry sheets, thawed according to package directions (490g)
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- tomato ketchup, to serve
Instructions
To make the filling:
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook the onion for 5 minutes or until softened.
- Add beef; cook, stirring occasionally, for 12 minutes or until browned.
- Add flour, salt & pepper. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute to cook the flour.
- Stir in broth, ketchup, sauce & tomato paste. Reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until sauce is thickened; cool.
To make the hot water pastry:
- Place butter & water in a large saucepan over high heat. Cook, stirring until butter is melted. Remove from the heat; gradually stir in flour & salt. Stir until a soft dough forms a ball. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface; gently pressing to form a disc. Cut the dough in half & form two discs.
- Roll out one half disc between 2 layers of floured parchment paper until 1/8 inch (2mm) thick. Cut four, 5 3/4-inch (14.5cm) circles from pastry; set aside. Repeat with remaining pastry half. Line eight, 4 1/2-inch, (about 12cm) lightly greased pie pans with pastry circles, gently pressing the pastry into the pans & onto the rim; set aside.
To make puff pastry tops:
- Place a sheet of pastry on lightly floured surface. Cut four, 5-inch (12.7cm) rounds from pastry; repeat with remaining sheet of pastry.
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Divide filling between the pie pans. Brush the edge of the puff pastry rounds with egg. Place, egg side down over filling. Press the pastry edges together with a fork to seal. Brush tops with egg. Cut a slit in top of each pie to allow steam to escape. Place pies on a baking sheet to catch any spillage. Bake on the bottom rack of preheated oven for 35 minutes or until pastry is cooked & golden. Serve with ketchup. Makes 8.
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