Written by Hayley Koita

food | recipes

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30 Aug, 2021

These little hand pies are easier than they look!  Use store bought puff pastry (heaven knows I am not making that myself!!) and put the beef in the pressure cooker for a yummy Friday night meal, instead of opting for takeout.

You can use any cheap cut of beef and debone it, I used brisket.  The only ingredient I needed to source and buy were baby turnips, and that was because I wanted to really recreate the Cornish pasties we bought from chain stores in my childhood.  Small cubes of the vegetables and the meat decreases the cooking time and is easier to eat since the pies are served as hand pies.  

Homemade Cornish pasties are definitely worth the effort and a hit for my household of four (maybe because they all like their own little portions).

Ingredients

500g cubed, deboned Beef

1 tbsp Sunflower oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Half a tsp Smoked Paprika

1 cup of sliced Leeks

2 cups of cubed Carrots

1 cup of cubed Turnips

1 cup of cubed Potatoes

1 sprig of Thyme

1 sprig of Rosemary

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 Beef stock cube

2 tbsp Flour & 4 tbsp water mixed into a paste

1 cup of frozen Peas

1 roll of Puff Pastry – I use cheese and herb

1 egg, beaten

Method:

Heat oil in a pressure cooker to medium temperature.  Brown the beef in the oil, a little bit at a time, adding salt, pepper and paprika. Remove the beef from the pot.  Add the chopped vegetables (leeks and carrots first, then once they’ve cooked, you can add the turnips, then the potatoes). Add the herbs, Worcestershire sauce, stock and 2 cups of water. To make a gravy, add the flour-water paste. Cook on medium pressure for 35 minutes.  

Roll out the pastry and trace the edges of a soup bowl to cut out circles. 

Once the time on the pressure cooker has lapsed, release the pressure, add some frozen peas, if desired.  The mixture should not be too saucy, so reduce your sauce if you deem it necessary.  Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius.

Scoop around 2 tablespoons of the cooked beef and vegetables onto one half of every circle.  Fold the other half over the cooked mixture and seal the edges so every pie looks like a half moon (I crimp it with my fingers, to make sure the pie filling doesn’t leak out while the pies cook).  Brush with egg and make it pretty with some sesame seeds or cut a little slice into your half moons.  Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

Serve up with a little side salad and make sure everyone has at least two pies to enjoy!

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