Ghanaian Meat Pie with Smoked Paprika Filling

About This Recipe

Ghanaian meat pies are a bakery and party staple, distinct from their Nigerian and other West African cousins mainly in their seasoning and slightly softer, more bread-like pastry. A simple shortcrust or semi-yeasted dough is rolled out and cut into rounds, then filled generously with a well-spiced ground beef and vegetable mixture before being folded and crimped into a half-moon shape and baked until golden. The filling is built the same way a good stew is: onion cooked down until sweet, garlic and ginger added for aromatics, then ground beef browned and seasoned with smoked paprika, thyme and a little curry powder, a seasoning combination that reflects Ghana's colonial-era British influence layered onto West African cooking. Diced carrot and potato are folded in at the end, both for texture and to stretch the filling further, a practical habit from home bakers making pies to sell in bulk. These pies are eaten warm from the oven at birthday parties, church events and school lunches across Ghana, and the crimped edge is meant to be sealed tightly enough that no filling leaks out during baking, since a good meat pie should stay intact when picked up by hand.

Ingredients

Serves 8

• 3 cupsall-purpose flour
• 200 gcold butter(cubed)
• 1 tspbaking powder
• 1 tspfine sea salt
• 1egg(for the dough, plus 1 more for egg wash)
• 0.75 cupcold water
• 400 gground beef
• 1onion(finely diced)
• 2 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 1carrot(finely diced)
• 1potato(finely diced)
• 1.5 tspsmoked paprika
• 1 tspcurry powder
• 0.5 tspdried thyme

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Rub cold butter into flour, baking powder and salt until it resembles coarse crumbs. Mix in egg and just enough cold water to form a firm dough. Chill 20 minutes.

2. 2

   Cook the filling

   Cook onion in a little oil until soft, then add garlic, carrot and potato and cook 5 minutes. Add ground beef and brown fully, breaking it up as it cooks.

3. 3

   Season the filling

   Stir in smoked paprika, curry powder, thyme and salt to taste. Cook until the vegetables are tender and the mixture is dry enough to hold its shape, then cool completely.

   The filling must be fully cooled before assembly or it will melt the butter in the dough and make the pastry greasy.

4. 4

   Assemble the pies

   Roll out the dough and cut into rounds. Spoon filling onto one half of each round, fold over, and crimp the edges tightly with a fork.

5. 5

   Bake until golden

   Brush with beaten egg and bake at 190°C (375°F) for 25 to 30 minutes until deeply golden and flaky.

Variations

• •

  Chicken version: substitute ground or finely chopped chicken for the beef.

• •

  Spicier filling: add a finely minced scotch bonnet pepper to the beef while browning.

• •

  Mini pies: cut smaller rounds for bite-sized party pies with a shorter bake time of about 18 minutes.

Storage

Store baked pies in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day or refrigerate up to 4 days; reheat in a 180°C (350°F) oven for 10 minutes to restore crispness rather than microwaving.

Frequently Asked Questions