Savoury Mince Pie

I thought today I'd try something new, and give some savoury baking a go. So I decided to have a bash at making a mince pie. I've never actually made a pie before, and also decided to follow my own recipe rather than one which had been tried and tested. Why make things easy?!

I have to say that I am pretty pleased with the result. It certainly doesn't look perfect, but it tasted delicious.

Ingredients:

Serves Six

For the pastry:
225g Plain Flour
50g Butter
50g Vegetable Fat
A little cold water

For the filling:
500g Lean Mince
One White Onion
Worcester Sauce\
One Beef Oxo Cube
Rainbow Pepper
Dried Basil
Gravy Granules
One Egg

To make the pastry, first sift the flour into a bowl before adding the butter and the vegetable fat. Rub this in with your fingertips until it reaches the consistency of fine breadcrumbs. Add a little cold water, a tablespoon at a time, to bind this into a soft dough. It should not be sticky. Wrap this in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least half an hour.

To make the filling for the pie, dice the onion and sprinkle the beef oxo cube over this. Brown together in a pan on a medium heat. Next, add your mince and brown this. Once this is done, reduce the heat to a simmer and the basil and rainbow pepper(to taste) and a dash of Worcester sauce. Mix up a tablespoon of gravy granules with a little boiling water to make a thick gravy. Then pour this into the pan with the mince, and stir. Take this off the heat while you roll out your pastry.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (or 180 degrees for a fan oven) and grease or line a nine inch pie tin. Place your pastry between two sheets of clingfilm and roll it out until it is quite thin. Place this in your pie tin and press it into the bottom before going round the edges. Trim off the excess, and roll this out again to make the top of your pie.

Spoon the filling into the pie ensuring it remains a little below the rim of the tin. Level it off with the spoon. Cover this with the remaining pastry and press the top and bottom together to make sure it is sealed. Prick the top five or six times in the centre with a knife to allow the steam to escape during baking. Beat your egg, and then brush this over the top of the pie to give the pastry a nice golden finish.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is a nice golden brown.