How to Make Minced Beef & Onion Pie

Not all pies are sweet. Pies made from meat and vegetables are savory dishes that don't need much more to be a complete meal. Meat pies are larger renditions of the smaller pot pies. Cornish pasties from the Cornwall area of England are portable meat pies. Traditional British meat pies are made from beef, pork or lamb, with minced beef a favored version. Minced beef is British vernacular for ground beef, which makes this dish an economical and tasty choice.

Things You'll Need

• Skillet
• Cooking spoon
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1 cup finely diced carrots
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
• 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp. thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 cups beef broth
• Whisk
• Medium bowl
• 1 tbsp. plain flour
• Prepared crust for two-crust pie
• Egg
• Small bowl
• Pastry brush

Instructions

Filling

1. Brown the ground beef in the skillet with the cooking spoon. When the ground beef is browned, spoon off most of the fat.

2. Pour the chopped onion, diced carrot and sliced celery into the skillet and saute the vegetables briefly with the cooked ground beef.

3. Add the rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, salt and half of the beef broth. Stir to mix.

4. Whisk the remaining beef broth with the flour until smooth. Add the Worcestershire sauce to the mixture and pour this into the skillet.

5. Simmer until the sauce is reduced and thickened. Correct the amount of salt if needed.

Assembly and Baking

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour the filling into the bottom crust.

2. Lay the top crust on top of the filling and pinch the dough edges tightly to prevent the filling from escaping. Cut a small round of pastry, about an inch in diameter, from the center top of the pie for ventilation.

3. Whisk egg in small bowl and brush it onto the top crust with the pastry brush.

4. Bake the pie for 40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Tips & Warnings

• Vary the meats and vegetables for different flavors. Consider a Tex-Mex filling or a French tourtiere with lots of allspice, cloves and cinnamon.

• Use a commercial prepared crust or a homemade one.

• When sealing the bottom and top crust, form an attractive pattern as you pinch and seal.

• The crust may begin to brown too fast while the meat pie is cooking. Mold narrow strips around the edge of the pie to keep the crust from burning.

References

• Food.com: British Beef and Onion Pie
• CD Kitchen: Beef Onion Pie Recipe

Resources

• What's Cooking America: Perfect Pie Crust Recipes - How To Make Pie Crust