African meat pies have the flakiest and buttery crust, with a moist and mouth-watering filling. The filling consists of minced meat and a choice of vegetables. Add Habanero peppers for a little spiciness if desired. Perfectly baked in the oven to perfection and enjoyed as a snack at home, at parties or wherever and when you please.
Course Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine African
Prep Time 1 hourhour
Cook Time 30 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour30 minutesminutes
Servings 26Servings
Calories 280kcal
Author Jayne Rain
Ingredients
for the Meat Pie Dough
1kgall-purpose flour
500gcold unsalted butter
2tspsea salt
3tbspsugar(I used brown sugar)
1 1/2tspbaking powder
2eggs
3/4cupcold water or milk
for the Meat Pie Filling
500gminced beef
2tbspcooking oil
1mediumonion (finely chopped)
2scallions(finely chopped)
2garlic cloves (minced)
1mediumcarrot(finely diced)
2mediumIrish potatoes(finely diced)
1tspsea salt
1tspbouillon powder
1/2 tspwhite pepper
1/4tspcayenne pepper
1tbspall-purpose flour
2cupswater
for egg wash
1egg
2tbspmilk
Instructions
Instructions for Making the Pie Filling.
In a medium saucepan, heat the oil. Add the onion and fry till light golden brown.
Add the garlic and stir for an about one minute.
Follow by adding the white pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, bouillon powder and stir for a few seconds.
Add the ground beef and start breaking the chunks. Fry till lightly brown stirring constantly.
Next, add the potatoes, carrots and the water. Stir well, cover and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are soft. By this time, the liquid would have almost dried out, but there should still be a bit of the stock.
Add in the one tablespoon of flour and stir well. Let it cook for one more minute. This process will help to thicken up the bit of stock that is still in the filling resulting into moist pies after baking.
Incorporate the scallions. Mix everything very well and set aside to cool down.
Instructions for making the dough
Start by beating the two eggs in a small bowl and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.
Add the cold butter to the flour mixture and mix well with the fingertips till the butter is well incorporated, and you have a breadcrumb-like consistency.
Mix in the beaten eggs and the water and combine to form the dough.
Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead shortly for about 1 minutes until smooth. Don’t overwork it though because the result will be unpleasant.
Cover the dough with a cling wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Instructions for Assembling the African Meat Pies
In a small bowl, beat the egg well in advance and set aside.
Divide the dough into four equal parts.
On a floured surface, roll out one piece to about 1/8 inch thickness.
Using a pie cutter or any round shaped utensil, cut out circles from the rolled dough. Remove the excess dough left around them and set aside for later use.
Place a tablespoon of the filling in the middle of each circle.
Cover each circle to form a half-moon-like shape. Seal the edges with your hands first and then press with a fork. Alternatively, if using a pie cutter, you will skip this part because the pie cutter automatically takes care of this step.
Repeat the process with the rest of the dough.
Place all the pies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Poke a few holes on top of the pies as this will help in releasing the pressure while baking them.
Proceed to brush the pies generously with the egg wash.
Finally, bake in preheated oven at 200°C for about 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown.
The African Meat Pies are ready.
Notes
Substitute the vegetables in the filling with any other veggies of your choice.
The butter should be slightly cold but not hard.
Substitute butter with margarine. I prefer using butter to margarine because it's a healthier version.
You can make these pies ahead of time and freeze for future use. After assembling the meat pies, place in one row on a tray and freeze. After that, place them in a ziplock bag and freeze till needed. To cook, unfreeze them for 30 minutes on your kitchen counter and bake as usual for 25 to 30 minutes in the oven.