Classic Meat Pie Recipe - 100kRecipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the best thickener for meat pies? ›

Flour as Pie Filling Thickener

Teaspoon for teaspoon, you will need to use about twice as much flour as you would cornstarch or tapioca to achieve the same thickening effects. Adding too much flour to your pie filling will turn it cloudy and pasty, with a distinctly floury taste.

Meat pie is primarily made of ground meat (pork, beef or veal) and aromatics (onion, garlic, spices, etc.). In Saguenay–Lac‑Saint‑Jean and Charlevoix, however, “real” tourtière is a lot heartier than meat pie and contains other meats (such as game) and potatoes that have been simmered in stock.

Blind Bake the Crust

One of the fool-proof ways to ensure a crisp bottom pie crust is to do what is called blind baking. This simply means that you bake the crust—either fully if you are adding a custard or cream that won't be cooked, or partially if the whole pie needs to bake—before adding the filling.

There are several reasons why pie crust can become hard. You don't have a great recipe. Pie crust needs a ratio of 3 parts flour, 2 parts butter, 1 part water, all ice cold, plus a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of sugar. Ratios are by weight, not volume.

Blind-bake your base before adding a filling to help to firm the base and avoid liquid being absorbed into it. Prick the base with a fork to help steam escape, cover with foil or parchment, and weigh it down with ceramic baking beans, uncooked rice or white sugar.

Flour thickens nicely but leaves more of a matte finish. You'll need to use twice as much as you would with cornstarch.

Shortcrust base: Make and blind bake Shortcrust Pastry per that recipe using a 23cm/9” pie dish, whether using homemade or store bought. Preheat oven: Turn oven up to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan). Fill pie: Bring filling to room temp, do not use fridge cold. Puff pastry lid: Partially thaw puff pastry (do not cut).

Meat pies are generally called pies, though can be called different things depending on the contents, Steak and kidney pie, meat and potato pie, Chicken and mushroom, Turkey, cheese and onion pie and so on. Sometimes the pie might reflect the gravy the filling was cooked in like Steak and Ale pie.

A pot pie, in US and Canadian dialects, is a type of meat pie with a top pie crust that is commonly used throughout the continent, consisting of flaky pastry.

There are a few instances, actually. You need a par-baked or fully baked crust if you're making quiche, no-bake pie, custard pie, cream pie, pudding pie, or simply want an extra-crisp pie crust. If you're making a pie that doesn't require a baked filling, you still need a baked crust.

Can puff pastry be used as a bottom crust? ›

Prepare the bottom puff pastry crust.

Trim any excess puff pastry from around the edges of the dish. Use a fork to prick the puff pastry several times on the bottom and sides. This will allow air to get through the puff pastry, so that the bottom dough doesn't puff up too much.

Watery filling

Water can be released from your pie filling while cooking in the oven. To avoid turning your pie into a sloppy mess, add flour to the filling or add some nuts to thicken it up, like in our Chicken and Leek Pie. This will help to absorb any excess water while it's cooking and will keep the pastry crispy.

Pastry chefs like Nick Malgieri say that a little bit of baking powder helps the crust fill the pie pan when baking and prevents the crust from sliding down the sides of the pan.

Some say that scattering small bits of butter over a fruit filling keeps the juices from bubbling over in the same way that adding a bit of fat to simmering jam keeps it from foaming up in the preserving pan. The theory is that the fat disrupts the formation of bubbles on the surface of the viscous fruit mixture.

Very often flour or cornstarch is used, but in certain instances tapioca, arrowroot and potato starch can also help achieve the desired consistency.

The three main thickening agents for gravies are flour, cornflour and arrowroot. The first two are normally used in savoury dishes while arrowroot tends to be used in sweet dishes – that said, arrowroot will work in a savoury dish as it has no flavour.

Partially pre-cook the filling to evaporate its excess juice. Experiment with different thickeners beyond flour — we love Instant ClearJel. Vent the pie's top crust so steam from the juice can escape. For even better evaporation, try a lattice crust or crumb crust.

Yes, regular (cook type) Clear Jel® is required for canning, not instant. The instant type of Clear Jel® does not require heat while regular does. Instant Clear Jel® is freezer stable, thus popular but not necessary when freezing pie filling.