Spiced Beef Pie Food

MEAT PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Place the potato in a saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain, mash, and set aside.
• Meanwhile, crumble the ground beef and pork into a large saucepan, and add the garlic, onion and water. Season with mustard powder, thyme, cloves and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring to crumble the meat and mix in the spices, until the meat is evenly browned. Remove from the heat, and mix in the mashed potato.
• Place one of the pie crusts into a 9 inch pie plate. Fill with the meat mixture, then top with the other pie crust. Prick the top crust a few times with a knife to vent steam. Crimp around the edges using the tines of the fork, and remove any excess dough. Cover the edges of the pie crust with aluminum foil.
• Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the crust has browned. Serve by itself, or with a beef gravy.

SPICED BRAISED BEEF PIE

Steps:

• Heat half the oil in a heavy-based flameproof casserole pan on a medium heat. Fry the meat in batches until browned, then remove from the pan and set aside.
• Turn down the heat, add the remaining oil to the pan and cook the onion, garlic and ginger for a few mins until starting to soften. Crush the Sichuan peppercorns using a pestle and mortar, then add the flour and mix well. Add the spiced flour to the onion, mix well until all the onion is coated, then return the meat to the pan along with the tomato purée, carrots, star anise and cinnamon. Give everything a good stir, scraping up any bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook for 1 min.
• Add the soy sauce, chillies and 400ml water. Bring up to a simmer and cook very slowly - the sauce should be bubbling gently but not boiling - for 1½ hrs until the meat is really tender. Leave to cool.
• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Once cool, spoon the filling into a 2-litre pie dish, removing the cinnamon stick, chillies and star anise. Roll out the puff pastry on a floured surface until it is about 2cm larger than the dish. Put a pie funnel in the middle of the pie (it will stop the pastry sinking and becoming soggy).
• Brush the edges of the dish with a little of the egg to help the pastry seal. Lay the pastry over the top, pressing down well. Pierce centre and trim off the excess pastry with a sharp knife. Brush liberally with egg and bake for 30-35 mins.

PASTEL (ISRAELI SPICED MEAT PIE)

Steps:

• Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and carrots and sauté until vegetables have softened, but not browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add beef, cinnamon, salt and pepper, stirring to combine. Cook until beef begins to brown, about 10 to 15 minutes. Let mixture cool completely.
• While beef is cooking, split puff pastry in half if it's in one piece. Roll out each piece with a floured rolling pin to roughly 9 x 11 inches. Line an 8- or 9- x 11-inch baking dish, or a shallow 2-quart gratin dish, with 1 piece of pastry, pulling up the dough to cover the sides of baking dish.
• Whisk 2 eggs and add to cooled beef mixture. Spoon mixture over pastry and top with chopped parsley and dill. Top with remaining piece of pastry, pinching together the sides of both pieces of pastry. Chill in fridge for at least 1 hour (and up to 4 hours) or freeze for 15 minutes.
• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk remaining egg and brush over pastry. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake until golden on top, about 40 minutes. Allow to cool 15 to 20 minutes before cutting. Pastel may appear wet when removed from oven, but pastry will absorb the moisture as it sits.

SPICED BEEF PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch cake pan with cooking spray and set aside.
• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, onions and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring, until the onions are soft and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the beef, sprinkle it with the cumin, cinnamon, Aleppo pepper, allspice, 1 teaspoon salt and a few turns of black pepper and cook, breaking up the beef with a spoon or spatula, until it is fully cooked and no longer pink, 8 to 10 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning as desired.
• Soak the matzo in warm water for a few minutes until it has softened. Line the bottom and sides of the prepared cake pan with the matzo pieces, breaking it up as needed and packing it down firmly. It will look a little rustic which is ok. Use a paper towel to blot away excess moisture once the matzo is in the pan, then pour in the beef mixture and pack it down firmly. Cover the top with soaked matzo, pressing the edges to seal, and then brush it with a healthy coating of egg wash. Bake until browned, about 30 minutes.
• Let cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then invert onto a plate. Top with parsley or micro greens and serve.

SPICY SHEPHERD'S PIE

Steps:

• Prepare mashed potatoes according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the tomatoes, corn, olives, taco seasoning, chili powder, salt and garlic powder. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes. , Transfer to a greased 2-1/2-qt. baking dish. Top with 3/4 cup cheese. Spread mashed potatoes over the top; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

SPICY PIES WITH SWEET POTATO MASH

Steps:

• Boil the sweet potato for 15 mins or until tender, taking care not to overcook.
• Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, deep, non-stick frying pan. Add the onions, cover and cook for 8 mins or until softened and starting to colour. Stir in the mince, breaking it up with a wooden spoon until browned. Stir in all the spices and bouillon, then add the beans with their liquid, the tomatoes and pepper. Cover and simmer for 20 mins. Stir in the corn with its liquid, season and take off the heat.
• While the mince cooks, mash the potatoes with the milk to make a stiff mash. Spoon the mince into six individual pie dishes, top each with some mash, then sprinkle over the cheese and a little paprika.
• The pies can now be frozen. If eating straight away, put under a hot grill until piping hot and the cheese is melted. To cook from frozen, thaw completely, then reheat in the oven on a baking tray at 180C/160C fan/ gas 4 for 30-40 mins or until piping hot throughout. Serve with broccoli or a salad, if you like, which will take you to all 5 of your 5-a-day.

MOROCCAN SPICED PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to fan 180C/ conventional 200C/gas 6. Dry fry the seeds briefly in a small pan over a medium heat until toasty - don't let them burn. Grind coarsely using a pestle and mortar (or a bowl and the end of a rolling pin), then mix in the paprika, cinnamon, 1⁄2 tsp salt and 4 tbsp oil. Tip the squash into a roasting tin, pour over the spiced oil and toss. Roast for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp of oil in a frying pan, add the shallots and cook, stirring, until they start to brown. Stir in the ginger and 100g/4oz each almonds and pistachios.When brown, toss in the cranberries, 2 tbsp honey, and the spinach so it wilts. Take off the heat and stir into the squash, when it comes out of the oven. Set aside.
• In a food processor, whizz the chickpeas with the garlic, cumin, remaining oil, lemon juice, 2 tbsp water and salt and pepper to make houmous. Stir in the coriander.
• Melt the butter in a small pan. Put a loose-bottomed 28cm quiche tin on a baking sheet and brush with some butter. Keeping the filo covered with a damp cloth so it doesn't dry out, lay one sheet over half of the tin so that it hangs over the edge by about 10cm. Lay another sheet on the other side, so it overlaps the first in the centre and hangs over the opposite edge. Brush with butter. Lay two more filo sheets in the opposite direction in the same way and brush with more butter.
• Build up two more layers in this way, so you use a total of eight sheets of filo. Pile half the squash mixture in the centre of the pastry. Spread over the houmous and then the rest of the squash mixture.One at a time, bring the edge of each filo sheet up to the centre to cover the filling, creating voluptuous folds as you go. Brush carefully with more butter. (If making a day ahead, cover now with cling film and chill. To reheat, remove the pie from the fridge, heat the oven, then bake for 35-40 minutes.)
• Bake for 30-35 minutes, until crisp and golden. Just before the pie is ready, reheat any remaining butter in the pan, tip in the rest of the nuts and fry until golden. Spoon in the 4 remaining tbsps of honey and, when it melts, take off the heat and pour over the pie. Serve with Harissa yogurt sauce (mix the yogurt and milk together to make a thin sauce, stir in the herbs and season. Swirl in harissa to taste) and lemon wedges.