Ryan Mason’s meat pies… modulo @kootsoop

Ryan Mason on Facebook shared his recipe for meat pies, and I thought I’d try it out. I didn’t have everything, and wanted to change it up a small bit, so this is what I actually did.

Ingredients

Pie base

• 250g unbleached all-purpose flour
• 300g unbleached all-purpose flour (second step)
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 2 teaspoons of milk powder
• 200 ml water
• 125g / 6 tablespoons butter

Filling

• 750g beef mince
• 1 onion
• 60 ml ketchup (tomato sauce!)
• 1 cup stock
• 100g unbleached all-purpose flour

Pie tops

• 1 egg
• 2 sheets of puff pastry

Method

Preparation

1. Adjust oven rack to middle-upper position and heat the oven to 220C (425F).

Pie base

1. Mix 250g flour and 125g butter together in a food processor until it has the consistency of sand or breadcrumbs.
2. Mix in 200 ml of water and the other 300g of flour.
3. Press gently together so that it comes together.
4. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Filling

1. Finely dice the onion and saute it in oil until it is fully cooked.
2. Add beef mince and brown it in the pan.
3. Drain off excess oil as it appears.
4. Combine stock, ketchup, flour, and stir thoroughly.
5. Add extra water to mixture, as appropriate, to keep it moving but not too watery.

Making pies

1. Roll out pie base to desired thickness.
2. Cover base of non-stick pie tins with pie base (Norpro Nonstick Mini Pie Pans, Set of 4, 5in/13cm x 1.25in/3cm, Silver).
3. Leave enough dough on edges of tins to allow sealing of the top (covering the flat edges of pie tin should be enough).
4. Fill pie bases with filling.
5. Mix the egg in a bowl or cup and brush egg on edges of pie base.
6. Top the pies with puff pastry.
7. With a fork, go around the edges of the pies to press puff pastry into pie base.
8. Brush tops of puff pastry with egg mix to get a shiny top on baked pies.

Baking

1. Bake pies for about 20 minutes at 220C (425F) in a regular oven. Adjust time / temperature if you’re using a fan-forced one.