Meat Pie

About This Recipe

The meat pie is Australia's national food icon — a palm-sized hot pie filled with minced or diced beef in a thick, richly seasoned gravy, encased in golden shortcrust pastry on the bottom and flaky puff pastry on top. Eaten at the footy with a squirt of tomato sauce, it is a cornerstone of Australian life.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 500 gbeef mince
• 1 mediumonion, finely diced
• 2 clovesgarlic, minced
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 2 tbspWorcestershire sauce
• 250 mlbeef stock
• 2 tbspplain flour
• 1 tbspvegetable oil
• 1 tspsoy sauce
• 1 tspsalt
• 0.5 tspblack pepper
• 2 sheetsshortcrust pastry
• 2 sheetspuff pastry
• 1 pcsegg, beaten (for egg wash)

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the filling

   Heat oil in a large pan over high heat. Brown mince in batches, breaking up lumps. Add onion and garlic, cook 3 minutes. Stir in flour, cook 1 minute. Add tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and stock. Simmer for 20 minutes until thick. Season and cool completely.

2. 2

   Prepare pie tins

   Grease 6 individual pie tins (or a large 23 cm tin). Line with shortcrust pastry, pressing into the sides and trimming the excess. Blind bake at 200°C for 10 minutes.

3. 3

   Fill the pies

   Spoon the cooled beef filling into the pastry shells, filling to just below the rim.

4. 4

   Top with puff pastry

   Cut puff pastry to size and lay over the filling. Press the edges to seal with the shortcrust. Crimp or press with a fork. Brush with egg wash and cut a small steam vent.

5. 5

   Bake

   Bake at 200°C for 25–30 minutes until the puff pastry is golden and risen. Rest 5 minutes before serving. Serve with tomato sauce (ketchup).

Variations

• •

  Add mushrooms and bacon to the filling for a gourmet version.

• •

  Use diced slow-braised beef chuck instead of mince for a premium pie.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 3 days. Reheat at 180°C for 15 minutes. Freeze up to 3 months.