With a double, top and bottom crust, these individual pies (or hand pies if you’re in the U.S) are just classic English comfort food. If you’re familiar with British cuisine, you’ll know we like our savory meat pies and this is the perfect recipe that reflects this. You can make these pies ahead and freeze them. Also known as savory mince pies (or savoury mince pies if you’re in the U.K.), different from the popular sweet mince pies (< click for recipe) that are served at Christmas time that are filled with a sweet mincemeat filling. These pies are the typical pies that you will find in any high street bakery and are a popular quick, warm lunch on-the-go. The filling is similar to shepherds pie. Starting with ground beef, chopped onions and carrots all cooked with a beef stock and tomato paste with Worcestershire sauce to make a rich beefy filling. Traditionally carrots are not added, but I like to add them for sweetness and it gives the filling some color. After simmering the meat and vegetables, it’s important to strain any liquid and fat to prevent getting soggy pies. It’s also important to let the mixture cool before adding it to the pastry. For this recipe I chose to make individual pies in 5-inch/13 cm round pie pans. There is pastry on the bottom as well as the top because in England we don’t serve the pies in the dish, they are removed and served right on the plate. Don’t forget to serve with a side of mushy peas (see pic below). Pie Pastry This homemade pie dough recipe is so light, so flaky and buttery. So easy to make and turns out perfectly every time. It is my go-to recipe for all my savory and sweet pastries like:
Homemade Sausage RollsTraditional Cornish PastySteak and Ale PieBourbon Pecan Pie
Leftover pies These pies keep so well refrigerated for about 3 days. Keep any leftover pies in the tin, that way you can re-heat at 350°F/177°F for about 20-25 minutes. The pastry will stay flaky and light and will be as if you had just made it. Another popular side dish to serve with savory pies is British Baked Beans (picture below). Made from scratch using dried beans and baked in a flavorful tomato sauce.
If you are not using low sodium, you may want to adjust the salt amount.
