I love a good ol’ Aussie meat pie, especially when I have made it myself. There is something very satisfying about the perfect pastry; a delicious, steaming hot, meaty filling; and the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ of your family as they down it with some serious appreciation.
As the cooler months approach, there is nothing quite like coming home to a fragrant meat pie for dinner. Add freshly steamed veggies and you are the instant star of the humble weeknight meal.
You can make your own iced puff pastry if you are channelling your inner ’50s housewife, but store-bought puff pastry will work just as well.
For obvious reasons, make sure the filling is completely cold when it hits the pastry. Hot filling and cold uncooked pastry create sogginess and I will not be held responsible for that!
The great thing about this recipe is that you could completely skip the shortcrust pastry bit if you were not on a ‘roll’ and make do with perfectly delish puff pastry on top of the filling, just like the best pot pie ever. You can go with six individual pies or one family-sized mega pie. (It may need a little longer in the oven, just so you know!)
Whichever way you end up going, I am sure you will love it enough to put this recipe onto regular family rotation… with or without the footy playing in the background.
Aussie meat pie
Serves: 6
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 50 mins
Total time: 65 mins
Ingredients:
- ½ cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 onion, peeled and halved
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 15g cornflour
- 500g beef, diced
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 100g-120 g mushroom, sliced (optional)
- 1-2 sheets of puff pastry
Shortcrust pastry (optional)
- 200g plain cake flour
- 100g unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1-2 tbsp iced water
Method:
- Place parsley into the Thermomix bowl and chop 4 sec/speed 7. Set aside.
- Place garlic, onion and oil into the Thermomix bowl and chop 3 sec/speed 8. Sauté 5 min/Varoma/speed 1.
- Add parsley, cornflour, beef, sauces and mushroom (if using) to the Thermomix bowl and cook 10 min/100ºC/speed 1.
- Allow to cool completely.
Pot pie option
- Pre-heat oven to 220 ºC/200ºC fan-forced.
- Divide the cold beef among six 12cm ceramic pie dishes.
- Cut puff pastry into circles large enough to cover top of each pie, and place over the pies. Cut a small cross in the top of the pastry and cook for 30-35 minutes until golden and puffed.
Shortcrust pastry option
- Pre-heat oven to 220 ºC/200ºC fan-forced.
- Place flour, butter and salt into the Thermomix bowl and blend 3 sec/speed 6.
- Add water through the hole in lid as you continue to blend on speed 5 until pastry forms a ball. Remove from bowl and mould into a flat disc. Enclose in plastic wrap. Chill for 20 minutes (or while you make the filling).
- Roll shortcrust pastry out to 2mm thickness and use to line 6 holes in a ‘Texas’ size (3/4-cup-capacity) muffin tin. Double line the base of each pie, by re-rolling pastry and cutting to fit. Place in freezer until use.
- Fill lined pie shells with the cold beef mixture. Cut puff pastry into circles large enough to cover top of each pie, and place over the pies. Cut a small cross in the top of the pastry and cook for 30-35 minutes until golden and puffed. Allow to cool slightly before removing from tin.
Tenina Holder worked as the first-ever official recipe developer for Thermomix Australia, and has literally hundreds of recipes for the machine you know and love. If you own a Thermomix, you have probably cooked one or more of her dishes. She also did a lot of work for the Thermomix parent company Vorwerk International, which was tough, because she had to make several trips to Europe, (but someone had to do it)!
Tenina has become the premium go-to source for all Thermomixing expertise and, of course, fresh and easy recipes that work. Her cooking classes sell out in hours, her many cookbooks frequently appear on the Australian best seller lists and her Spin A Dinner app hovers around on top of the charts. Her following is growing and global with people as far away as Chile and Kazakhstan. Tenina is not afraid of salt, butter or sugar and believes chocolate is a health food.
Her spare time is spent dreaming up new cooking projects, visiting with her grandchildren, pinning delectable pictures to Pinterest and planning her next culinary tourist trek. Tenina has been seen without her trademark pearls, but rarely without her lip gloss.
Instagram: @cookingwithtenina
Visit: tenina.com
