Mini meat pies

Serves:

Makes 20

Ingredients

• 1 brown onion (finely chopped)
• 2 tbs butter
• 3 clove garlic (finely chopped)
• 1 medium carrot (finely chopped)
• 1 zucchini (finely chopped)
• 5 mushrooms (finely chopped)
• 400 g beef mince
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 2 tbs tomato paste
• 2 tbs tamari
• 1 pinch salt and pepper (to taste)
• 1 cup beef stock (liquid)
• 1 tbs spelt flour
• 1 unit egg
• 1 splash milk

For pastry

• 4 sheet puff pastry
• 1 handful sesame seeds

Method

Gently cook onions in butter in a large frying pan. Add garlic after a couple minutes and saute for a minute.

Add the carrot and continue to cook until soft, then add the zucchini and mushrooms and cook for a further couple of minutes.

Add the beef and cook until it is well browned, then add the oregano, cayenne pepper and curry powder and saute for 1 minute.

Stir through the tomato paste, tamari, salt and pepper, then add the beef stock and simmer for a few minutes.

Add the spelt flour, mixing well, and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan-forced) and grease two 12-hole muffin tins. Whisk together the egg and a splash of milk.

Using a cookie cutter or empty glass jar – and while the pastry is still cold but malleable – cut out circles to fit into the muffin holes and for the lids of the pies (you can also stretch out the pastry circles a little further with your hands for the bottom of the muffin holes).

Spoon in approximately two tablespoons of mince mixture into each hole (be careful not to overfill), then top with the lid and press sides down gently to seal the pie.

Brush the top of each pie with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until golden.

Note

• Use poppy seeds, sesame seeds or both – whatever you prefer!
• Get the kids to help you with this recipe! They’ll love cutting out the pastry rounds or scooping the meat mixture into the muffin holes.
• Make a big batch of these on Sunday night and store them in the fridge to be used whenever you need them throughout the week.
• This recipe was created by Brenda Janschek for Kidspot.