This is British Pie week so I thought I’d share my Mini Scotch Pies recipe from by book A Wee Taste Of Scotland.We Brits so love our pies from steak and ale to fish pies, pasties to chicken pies – they are all pies in their own right and here in Scotland it is the traditional meat pie, or Scotch Pie is always a favourite.
I’ve made mini scotch pies so they make perfect party fodder, picnic nibbles or lunch box fillers.
I have kept with tradition and used lamb mince in mine but feel free to go with beef if you prefer. I’ve also added in a few herbs to spice things up a bit.
Shortcrust pastry is best for this recipe, you can either make your own as I have or use stuff from the supermarket to save a bit of time and effort.
For your simple shortcrust pastry you’ll need plain flour, unsalted chilled butter, a pinch of salt and some cold water. You’ll also need an egg for glazing pastry later on. Making shortcrust pastry is really just a case of pulsing in processor till you get crumbs and then adding in water and whizzing to form a dough. Everything should be cool when making pastry to chill the butter well beforehand and chop into small pieces before you start. Wrap the pastry dough in clingfilm and pop it into the fridge to firm up for half an hour.
When you are rolling out your pastry and handling it make sure you have cool hands (this is not the time to have a hot cuppa on the go. The cooler the pastry is the easier it is to work with.
Simples! No need to hit the supermarket after all!
So check out the recipe below for my Mini Scotch Pies and celebrate British Pie week with a wee touch of Scottish style.
Karon x
Mini Scotch Pies
Ingredients
- Shortcrust Pastry
- 400 g/14oz plain/all purpose flour
- 200 g/7oz unsalted butter chilled and chopped
- pinch of salt
- 4 tablespoons cold water
- 1 egg beaten for glazing
- Scotch Pie Filling
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 100 g/3 1/2oz minced lamb
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 50 g/2oz bacon finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 250 ml/8fl oz stock a cube is fine
- pinch each of dried basil oregano and thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- To Make The Pastry
- Pulse flour, butter and salt in food processor until it forms crumbs.
- Slowly add enough of the cold water and whizz again to form a dough
- Wrap in clingfilm and set aside in fridge to firm up for half an hour
- To Make Scotch Pie Filling
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4
- Heat oil in a large pan and cook mince on high for 5 minutes until browned.
- Remove the mince and fry the onion with bacon for 3 minutes then add the garlic for further 1 minute
- Add the browned mince back to the pan and all other ingredients.
- Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until tender.
- Season to taste.
- Lightly flour your work surface and and roll out the chilled pastry to approx 2mm thick.
- Using a 7cm cutter make 12 rounds and using a 5.5cm cutter make another 12 rounds for lids
- Grease your mini muffin tin and line each cavity with a larger circle of pastry pressing in well
- Spoon in the meat mixture and brush edges of pastry with beaten egg before adding the tops.
- Pierce a couple of small slits in tops to allow steam to escape and glaze with egg .
- Bake for 25 minutes until golden.
- Allow to cool a little on a wire rack before serving
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