Australian Meat Pie

5 from 2 votes

There's no need to go "Down Under" to enjoy this savory, hand-held pastry with a hearty beef filling, topped with buttery, flaky puffed pastry!

Prep Time1 10

Cook Time20

Total Time1 30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Australian

Keyword: Australian Meat Pie, Meat Pie

Servings:

Calories: 807kcal

Cube the stick of butter and put it in the freezer for 10 minutes
In a food processor, add the cold butter, flour, and salt and pulse until it resembles coarse sand
Add the vinegar to the water
Add 1 tbsp of ice water at a time, pulsing 4 to 5 times after each addition until the mixture forms clumps and begins to pull away from the sides
Pour the mixture on to a work surface and form a disc
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days
Let the dough rest at room temperature about 5 minutes so that it will be easier to roll out
Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin
Roll out the disc from the center moving outward until it is approximately 1/8" thick
Using a 3 1/2" biscuit cutter, cut out 8 rounds of dough
Spray a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray
Gently press each round of dough into the muffin tin and poke a few holes in the bottom and sides of the crust with a fork

Set the puff pastry out at room temperature to thaw
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
To a sautee pan, add the ground beef, garlic and onion and cook over medium heat until the ground beef is browned
Drain some of the fat, if desired
Season with salt and pepper
Add the flour and cook about 2 minutes
Increase the heat to medium high and deglaze with the red wine
Allow most of the wine to cook out (approximately 1-2 minutes), lower the heat to medium, then add the tomato paste, worcestershire sauce and beef broth and continue cooking until the mixture is combined and thickened (approximately 3-5 minutes)
Evenly divide the meat mixture between each of the 8 muffin tins
Roll the puff pastry out enough to press the seams together
Using a 2 1/2" biscuit cutter, cut 8 discs from the puff pastry sheet
Top each muffin tin with the puff pastry and pinch the edges together with a fork
Mix the egg with 1 tsp of water and brush the top of each pie with the egg wash
Cut a few slits in the top of the puff pastry to allow the steam to escape
Bake for 20 minutes
Serve with ketchup, if desired

For the flakiest crust, it is important to use cold ingredients. Keeping the dough as cold as possible helps prevent the butter from melting. When baked, the buttery chunks will melt and their steam creates pockets of air which helps to separate the crust into multiple flaky layers. In an effort to keep the dough as cold as possible, use frozen butter and ice water. (For a short cut, use a store-bought crust.)
Deglaze is just a culinary term that means to add liquid to a hot pan to get any browned bits to release from the bottom.