Meat pies are pies with savory fillings of meat and other ingredients. Any party or potluck in Australia, South Africa, UK, New Zealand, Canada, Europe, Nigeria, Ghana and Canada is just incomplete without a meat pie on the counters. Although you can quickly go to a nearby market and buy a nice ready made meat pie, a homemade one has a different kind of personalized touch attached to itself. With increasing popularity of meat pies all across the globe, more and more people are showing interest in making them at home. Making a meat pie is not that simple, and its whole taste and texture depends on its crust. You can make the filling that way you want, but the meat pie pastry needs to be of the right texture. It should not be too crispy or too soft, and should be of the right consistency as per the meat pie requirements. How you make the pastry dough makes a big difference in how your meat pie crust turns out to be. This oneHOWTO article will tell you how to make meat pie pastry dough the right way.
The first step to make meat pastry pie dough is to take 4 cups of plain flour in a large bowl and mix salt and baking powder into it. If you want some sweetness too in the pie, then you can add one teaspoon of sugar into it as well. Knead well with your hands.
Add some margarine into the mixture. Work it properly into all of the flour until it starts looking like a bowl of breadcrumbs.
Start adding ice cold water little at a time and keep kneading until you make a stiff ball of dough. If the flour is too hard, add some more water to it, but if it gets too soft and runny, add some more flour to make it stiffer.
Test the consistency of the dough by slightly pulling the dough and checking its elasticity. It should be elastic enough to come out with a slight pull, but should not stick to your hands.
Grab a roller pin and flatten the ball of dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll until the dough ball becomes smooth and gets flat to around half inch thickness.
Use a pot lid or a dough cutter to cut a circle out of the flattened dough, trim off the edges and add your favorite filling in it.
Take a separate bowl and beat 2 eggs in it.
Using a basting brush, apply the beaten egg on the dough edge around the filling. This will help the edges to stick to each other when folded. Also use a fork to press the edges and give it the classic shape of a meat pie. Do not forget to brush some beaten egg on the folded dough so that it turns golden brown when cooked.
Once you have made the pastry dough and filled the filling in it, the trick lies in its cooking and baking too. You might need to cook the pie for around 45 minutes at 180 ºC/350 ºF, but it is important to check it after every 20 minutes. It is also important to place the pastry on a greased plate only, otherwise the dough will stick to the pan and refuse to come off
Once your meat pie is ready, allow it to cool and serve. Add some homemade Worcestershire sauce to top your delicious pie. Bon apetit.
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