This perfect puff pastry minced meat pie is one of my favorite recipes for Easter. It is a tradition for our family to have this pie every year for Easter Sunday meal, but we also make it once in a while as an appetizer when we have guests over. I think the left overs are even better and you can have them for lunch with a simple salad.
The recipe is very close to the Greek Kreatopita that is usually made with phyllo dough. It is a very rustic and delicious dish that can use pork, beef or a mixture of both as you prefer. It also uses lots of greens, especially around Easter, as a celebration of Spring. Green onions can be replaced with white or red onion in the winter. Dill and parsley are used in abundance, as these two herbs are very popular in the Romanian cuisine. Thyme is also a wonderful aromatic herb that brings so much flavor to the dish. And you can use puff pastry sheets that you can find at any grocery store. As an Eastern European, the puff pastry is one of the staples in my freezer.
How to make puff pastry minced meat pie:
Start by defrosting the puff pastry. Do not let it sit at room temperature more than 40 minutes. It will be hard to work with it.
Then, place the ground meat in a pan and saute it on medium heat in 1-2 Tablespoons of oil.
When the meat loses the moisture and starts browning, add the onion, garlic , salt and pepper.
Then add parsley, dill(either fresh or dried), thyme and mix well to incorporate the herbs and the rest of the ingredients.
Cook the mixture together for 3-4 minutes, then set aside to cool.
When the mixture cooled down, add eggs and cheese and mix well. Cheddar cheese works perfect, but there is no rule to add whatever shredded cheese you have around. Maybe you want to mix cheddar cheese with a little bit of gruyere, or maybe you have a bag of Mexican cheeses, or even Feta cheese. The sky is the limit. Make the recipe yours and add what you like.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350F. Cover the bottom of a 7×11″ baking pan with a sheet of puff pastry.(Gosh, I love puff pastry. It is so versatile and simple to use in so many ways).
As my baking trays are always longer/wider than the size of the puff pastry sheet, I usually put some flour on a wood board and stretch a little bit the puff pastry to adjust the size of it. Spread the meat over the pastry.
Then, adjust the size of the other puff pastry sheet and cover the meat with it. Tuck the edges of the pastry inside the tray.
Beat an egg and brush the entire surface of the pie with it. Also, grab a fork and poke the puff pastry top everywhere.
Bake at 350F for about 40-45 minutes until golden brown.
Slice it in squares and serve warm or cold next to this delicious Spanish potatoes salad.
Perfect recipe for Easter, served as an appetizer, fulfilling and delicious. Enjoy!
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- 1 package puff pastry(or two puff pastry sheets)
- 1 pound minced meat(pork or beef)
- 1 medium onion chopped or 3-4 green onions
- 2-3 garlic cloves chopped
- one handful of chopped fresh parsley or 2 teaspoons of dried parsley
- one handful of chopped fresh dill or 2 teaspoons of dried dill
- ½ tsp of dried thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1-2 tbs vegetable oil for browning the meat
- 3 eggs(2 will go into the meat mixture and 1 egg will be used to brush the surface of the pie before baking it)
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a pan, heat up the vegetable oil on medium heat.
- Add the meat to the pan and saute it until it starts browning.
- Add the chopped onion and garlic.
- Mix it all together, add salt and pepper to your taste.
- Brown the meat, onion and garlic for few minutes mixing with a spoon.
- Also add the parsley, dill and thyme, mix all together, then set aside and let the mixture cool for few minutes.
- Meanwhile, cover the bottom of a 7x11" baking dish with one sheet of puff pastry.
- If the puff pastry sheet is smaller than your baking tray, flour a flat surface and adjust the size of the dough using a rolling pin to stretch it. Lay it on the bottom of the baking tray.
- Add 2 eggs to the cool mixture and the shredded cheese and mix well.
- Spread the meat over your pastry in the baking dish.
- Adjust the size of the other puff pastry sheet and cover the meat with it.
- Tuck the edges of the pastry inside the tray.
- Grab the last egg and beat it well.
- Brush some egg on the pastry's surface.
- Grab a fork and poke the pastry all over the surface.
- Bake it in the oven for about 45 minutes or until golden brown.
- Let it cool before you cut it in squares and serve either warm or cold.
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