Yields: ~8 meat pies

Cook Time: ~3 hours

At the start of the new year, I started exploring new recipes. This one has been my favorite so far, and I’ve been making it weekly since the start of January. Winter is the perfect time for hearty and cozy meals, and this one fits the bill. These meat pies are an all-in-one recipe, delivering everything from protein to hearty veggies in a hand-held pocket. I especially love that they’re just as good the next day as they are the night you first make them; just toss leftovers in the oven at 350-400°F (175-200°C) for about 10 to 15 minutes to reheat. 

A word of caution about this recipe: this isn’t a quick one-and-done. The steps are deceivingly simple, but there’s lots of waiting in between for the filling to cool, for the puff pastry to defrost, for the filled pies to cool in the freezer, and then finally for the pies to bake in the oven. With that in mind, I recommend getting a head start on this recipe, as I’ve found it takes about 3 hours from prep to finish. Let’s walk through the tools, ingredients, and steps to make the perfect meat pies. 

Tools You’ll Need

You’ll need a few tools to make this recipe. Take a look around your kitchen to make sure you have these before you get started:

• A good kitchen knife, like a Japanese chef’s knife, santoku, or utility knife, for chopping the veggies
• Peeler, for the potatoes and carrot
• Cutting board, for chopping veggies
• Medium-size pot or dutch oven, for making the filling
• Rolling pin, for rolling out the puff pastry
• Pizza cutter, for trimming the excess pastry
• Baking sheet, for baking the pies
• Baking mat or parchment paper, to line the baking sheet
• Pastry brush, to brush the pies with olive oil

^{Dice your veggies into small chunks. I used my JK Adams cutting board and Miyabi Santoku for this task!}

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 white onion, diced
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced into small pieces
• 1 rib of celery, diced into small pieces
• 1 russet potato, peeled and diced into small pieces
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1.5 cups beef stock
• 2 packages puff pastry

Preparation

• Prep your onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Set aside.
• In a medium-size pot or dutch oven, heat the butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium / medium-high heat.
• Add onion, carrot, and celery, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Allow the vegetables to soften for 1-2 minutes, then add the minced garlic
• Add ground beef, salt and pepper, and the rest of the seasonings.
• Brown the beef, using a spoon or spatula to crumble into a fine consistency.
• Add tomato paste and worcestershire sauce, stirring to combine.
• Sprinkle in the flour and stir to incorporate.
• Add beef stock and diced potato, stirring to incorporate
• Cover and simmer for 30 minutes on medium-low heat.
• Once the thirty minutes is up, take the filling off the heat and allow it to cool completely. This should take about 45 minutes. 
• Take the puff pastry out of the freezer and allow it to thaw for 30 minutes while the filling is cooling. 
• Once the filling is cooled use a rolling pin to roll out the puff pastry and cut it into 5” x 10” rectangles
• Working one at a time, fill each rectangle with filling on one side, wet the edges of the puff pastry, and fold the puff pastry over the filling.
• Use your fingers to firmly seal the puff pastry edges together, then use a fork to press down along the edges, leaving lined indentations along the edge of the pie.
• Clean up the edges by trimming them with a pizza cutter or a kitchen knife.
• Place the pies on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, and cut three slits into the top of the pies for warm air to escape from while baking. 
• Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C)
• While oven is preheating, place the meat pies in the freezer for 20 minutes
• Once the 20 minutes is up, brush each pie with the remaining olive oil and top with finishing salt. 
• Bake for 25 minutes, and allow to cool 5-10 minutes before serving. 

Recipe Notes

• If you’re interested in switching up the spices in this recipe, we recommend trying out De Lat, Bonga, Vadouvan, and/or Seti Berbere to put a new spin on this dish. Check out our spices blog for tips on how to get creative with flavors.