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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First Look, Then Cook 