Classic Aussie Meat Pies

Why you should cook this

The Aussie meat pie is the only food I miss when I am out of the country, which I have learned because I once spent three weeks in California and tried to explain a Four’N Twenty to a man from Pasadena who could not understand why I needed gravy. Beef chuck slow-braised with onion, garlic, Worcestershire, a teaspoon of Vegemite (yes, really, it is the umami), thickened with a flour slurry until the gravy coats the back of a spoon. Shortcrust on the bottom to hold it. Puff on top to crackle. Tomato sauce always.

The trick is the Vegemite. One tablespoon disappears into the gravy and adds the savoury back-note that supermarket pies have and that home pies usually do not. Cook the filling fully and cool it completely before assembly. Hot filling sogs the bottom pastry and turns the whole pie into mush. The bottom shortcrust, the top puff. Egg-wash the lid. Cut a small steam vent. Bake at 200 fan until the puff has risen up and gone the colour of a Bunnings receipt that has been left in a wallet for a year.

What to drink with it

A cold lager, a bottle of Coopers Pale, or a Boulevardier. Tomato sauce on the side, non-negotiable.

Notes from the kitchen

Two pastries. Shortcrust on the bottom, puff on the top. The shortcrust holds the gravy in. Cool the filling first. Warm filling sogs the pastry.

The recipe

Classic Aussie Meat Pies

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Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Servings: 12 pies

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Australian

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

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• 1 kg beef chuck, diced 1cm
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 500 mL beef stock
• 1 tbsp Vegemite
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• 60 mL cold water
• 4 sheets shortcrust pastry
• 4 sheets puff pastry
• 1 egg, beaten
• Salt and pepper

Method

 

1. Heat oil in a heavy pot. Brown the beef in batches, 3 minutes per batch. Set aside.
2. Cook onion 5 minutes. Add garlic, tomato paste, Worcestershire, Vegemite. Stir 60 seconds.
3. Return beef. Add stock. Bring to a simmer. Cover. Simmer 1.5 hours until beef is tender.
4. Whisk flour with cold water in a small bowl until smooth. Stir into the simmering pot. Cook 5 minutes until thick. Cool completely.
5. Preheat oven to 200°C fan.
6. Cut shortcrust to fit pie tins. Fill with cooled beef mixture. Top with puff pastry. Crimp edges. Egg wash.
7. Cut a small steam vent in each top. Bake 25-30 minutes until puffed and deeply golden.
8. Serve with tomato sauce. Or HP. The eternal debate.

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