Meat pies – I love them.  I used to have to save them for a weekend though – the recipes just seemed like there were too many steps for a weeknight dinner.  Then, I found puff pastry sheets.  Now homemade is definitely better – and on a Saturday or Sunday, there is nothing I like more than feeling that homemade crust in my hands – but if you want a meat pie after you have worked all day – and you have two starving children – frozen puff pastry sheets are your best friend.  I came home, took one sheet out of the freezer and set it on the counter. By the time the filling was ready, the pastry had thawed perfectly, and within 5 minutes the pies were in the oven.  I saw this recipe in Cooking Light, and it called for refrigerated pie crust – but I couldn’t do that to these pies – they deserved better – so I substituted the puff pastry for the crust.  Homemade crust is one thing, but that refrigerated stuff is no good.  I also didn’t have ground pork in the house, so I used lean ground beef instead.  These were delicious pies – a recipe that I will definitely keep for my weeknight repertoire.

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1  pound extra lean ground beef
• 1  teaspoon  salt, divided
• 1/2  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 1/8  teaspoon  ground red pepper
• 1/8  teaspoon  ground cloves
• 1  tablespoon  olive oil
• 1  cup  finely chopped onion
• 1/2  cup  finely chopped carrot
• 1/3  cup  finely chopped celery
• 1  (1-pound) russet potato, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 3  garlic cloves, minced
• 2  tablespoons  all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2  cups  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 3  tablespoons  finely chopped chives
• 1 sheet frozen puffed pastry, thawed according to package

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, and coat pan with cooking spray. Add ground beef to pan. Sprinkle beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt, cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon red pepper, and cloves; sauté for 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Using a slotted spoon, remove beef from pan. Add olive oil to pan, and swirl to coat. Add 1 cup onion, carrot, celery, and potato; sauté for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic, and sauté for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Return beef to pan. Stir in flour, and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits; bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes or until slightly thick. Remove from heat; stir in chives.

Place 1 cup pork mixture into each of 6 (8-ounce) ramekins. Take puffed pastry and cut 6 (5-inch) dough circles. Place 1 dough circle on each ramekin, tucking edges inside. Cut an X in the top of each circle; coat lightly with cooking spray. Place ramekins on a baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 40 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

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