Tweaking, variety, steak, pork, minced meat, mashed potatoes, chicken, cheese, cream, and onions can never be found missing in our classic English Meat pie recipe.
This savory pie, also known as Cornish Pasty, was brought to life in Northern Europe and has been a glorious, good-old pie since then. More to its gloriousness is the filling that comes with rich and healthy constituents such as mashed potatoes, minced meat, pork, onions, cheese, cream, veggies, and so on.
The British meat pie was originally known for its oval shape, but in recent times, its recipe and shape have been amazingly tweaked, creating variations. We are happy, glad, and appreciative of this classic pie. Thus, we’ll be sharing in this article things we love about British meat pie and three awesome recipes for British meat pie that you are sure to love.
Things We Love About English Meat pie
Pies, whether meat, fish, or fruit, are great comfort foods. The traditional British meat pie is a nation’s favorite. Here are things we love about British meat pie:
Pastry Texture
The first awesome feature of taking a bite of a British meat pie is its crispy, crusty with a touch of fluffy texture. This texture is usually due to refrigerating dough before usage.
Convenience
‘Go to’ is the perfect term for a British meat pie. This baked goodness is a good food on the go with freshly cooked ingredients as filling. It can be eaten anytime and anywhere.
Quality and Richness
Carnivore or Vegetarian? Never to worry; British meat pie satisfies your diet. It presents a variety of veggies like carrots, peas, onions, garlic, mushrooms, fruits, and so on for a vegetarian and a variety of meat like beef, steak, pork, and so on for you, our carnivore reader.
What it Symbolizes
Traditional British meat pie symbolizes love, union, and comfort. Truthfully, there is union and love, where there is a British meat pie. Also, the crusty, flaky, and crispy pastry and the savory taste of its filling provide comfort with every bite.
2 English Meat Pie Recipes You’ll Love
Variations of British meat pies make it exciting to make and enjoy. As we always say: what’s a recipe without a variation here and there J.
Here are our two most loved British meat pie recipes. We are sure you’ll share this feeling.
English Meat Pie Recipe — Why we Love British Steak Pie
Course: SnacksCuisine: EnglishDifficulty: Medium4
servings5
hours45
minutes300
kcalVariations of British meat pies make it exciting to make and enjoy
Ingredients
- Ingredients for Pastry
400g of All-purpose flour
160g of water
1 large egg
1 tsp of salt
90g of butter
1 tbsp of milk
100g of lard
- Ingredients for Filling
500g of lean stewing beef
1 pint of beef stock
20g of gravy granules or cornstarch
½ tsp of ground white or black pepper
Directions
- Preparation of the filling
- Pour the beef stock into a pot and heat it.
- Cut the lean beef into small, tiny cubes and pour them into the simmering beef stock. This does not need any added seasoning because the beef stock and the pastry contains salt as well as the gravy granule (if you’ll use it).
- Add the pepper and cook for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. The beef will have attained a well-done texture, just right for the pie. Then reduce the heat.
- While the beef is cooking, prepare the pastry.
- Preparation of the pastry
- Pour the water into a small pot and bring to a simmer. Then, pour the butter and lard into the water to melt
- Pour the flour into a bowl and add the salt. Mix until well combined
- Make a well in the middle and pour the mixture in step one. Then, mix well.
- Place dough on a floured surface and mix it altogether using your hands.
- Cut dough into two sizes, one large one for the pie base and one small one for the top. Wrap each dough in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for two hours.
- Preparation of the pie
- Add the gravy granules to the filling (melt corn starch in water if gravy granules are not available) and mix to get a consistency that is not too thick and not too runny. Then, let it cool.
- Bring out the dough from the fridge and roll out each on a floured surface until it is about a quarter inch thick
- Place the upper part of your pie pan (4” diameter and 2.5” depth) on the flattened dough and cut out four round-shaped doughs to fit in the pie pan. Do the same for the smaller dough but use a smaller pie pan. Then, keep them aside. You can keep the leftover dough in the refrigerator for later use.
- Coat the pie pan with little oil or butter. Then, place the pastry base in the pie pan, ensuring it fits perfectly into the bottom corners, leaving no air holes. Also, make sure you have a leap of pastry around the edges.
- Spoon the filling into the pastry case leaving the edges filling-free
- Crack the eggs into a small bowl and add the milk. Then, whisk until well combined, creating the egg wash.
- Preheat your oven to 170°c
- Brush eggwash around the filling-free edges and place the smaller round dough on it. Gently press it down at the edges.
- Coat the pie top with the egg wash and use a knife to create two holes for all-round doneness.
- Place in the preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Leave to cool for about 10 minutes and enjoy.
Recipe Video
Traditional Pork Pie – Our Second Best English meat pie recipe
Prep time: 3:30minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total cook time: 4:15minutes
Servings: 10
Ingredients for the filling
- 1kg of pork meat (cleaned and cut into 2cm pieces)
- ½ cup of corn flour
- ½ tsp of ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
- 3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
- 1 medium-sized onion (finely diced)
- 2 star anise
- ¼ cup of BBQ sauce
- 1 tbsp of tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp of salt
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
Ingredients for the pastry
- 3 frozen short-crust pastry sheets (thawed)
- 2 frozen puff pastry sheets (thawed)
- 2 large eggs
Preparation of the filling
- Sprinkle salt and pepper on the pork and mix for an even seasoning. Then, pop pork into the corn flour and toss well.
- Add 1 tbsp of oil into a hot pan and place each coated pork to slightly fry, enhancing its flavor. Then, remove from pan.
- Add the remaining 1 tbsp of oil to the pan, followed by the onions and salt to sauté. Then, add the garlic, star anise, cinnamon stick, and bay leaves. Then stir.
- Add the tomato paste, dark-sweet soy sauce, BBQ sauce, and beef stock. Then leave to simmer.
- Add the pork into the sauce and leave to cook on low heat for 2 hours for fork-tender pork, stirring occasionally.
- Take out the cinnamon stick, star anise, and bay leaves. Then, leave the filling to cool
Preparation of the pie
- Place each pastry sheet on a flat surface. Then place the pie pan upside down and cut out round-shaped dough. Repeat until the pastry sheet is exhausted.
- Place short-crust pastry in the pie pan and spoon the filling into it. Then, place the puff pastry on top of it.
- Crack eggs into a bowl and whisk lightly (you can decide to use on the egg yolks for a better golden feel)
- Place in the fridge for about 1 hour. Then, place in the oven for 45 minutes.
Let it cool and enjoy.
Read also: What Are the Ingredients for Meat Pie?
Here you will find recipes for dishes that are both familiar and exotic, all designed to tantalize your taste buds and inspire your inner chef. So whether you’re an experienced cook or just starting out, we hope you will find something to excite your palate.
