The Accra Report started Recipe Tuesdays to showcase the culinary delights of the African continent. There has been a significant time lapse between our Jollof feature and today’s post on the West African Meat Pie and we sincerely apologize to our much beloved epicurean patrons for that inexcusable lull.
This week we will like to share with you the recipe for savory West African meat pie that shares some similarity to the empanada. The staff at The Accra Report love the meat pie. In Accra,Ghana our favorite places to purchase the meat pie were at the Paloma Shopping Arcade, Ramec, Bus Stop and the little cafe behind Busy Internet.
On Sundays when our cravings for this snack always seemed to peak, the wonderful auntie who run a little bake shop in the church parking lot was a sight for sore eyes as she always had some meat pie for a sale at a very affordable price
Just like our jollof feature we will like to share with you two variations of making this snack.
Adom Home Cooking -How to prepare Meat Pie (Fish & Veg Pie as well) !
The All Recipes Version
Ingredients
Makes: 10 small pies
125g self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
110g butter, softened
1 egg, beaten
4 tablesppoons water
1 onion
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
200g minced beef
2 Maggi cubes
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (optional)
2 medium potatoes
75g frozen mix veg (or fresh if preferred)
Method
Prep:1hr › Cook:25min › Ready in:1hr25min
Make dough first: Add flour, baking powder, salt to a bowl then rub in the butter. This will give a crumbly mixture.
Beat the egg and add half to the flour and butter mixture and mix with a wooden spoon. Add tablespoons of water one at a time until dough can be rolled into a ball.
Meat: Dice onions (and peppers if you want) and fry in oil for a few minutes. Add a little water to soften then add mince and mash in the pan with the back of the wooden spoon. Add stock (maggi) cubes, black pepper and any other spices you want to.
When cooking meat and onions, only add a little bit of water as it needs to be dry when put on the dough. Add frozen veg and cook with meat and spices for a further 5 minutes. After meat has browned well, put aside to cool.
In another pot, dice potatoes and boil for about 5 minutes so that they become soft; drain. Add potatoes to meat and mix.
Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas 4.
Flour worktop and roll out dough until it is about 2mm thick. Cut circles in the dough and place 1 or 2 teaspoons of meat in the centre of the circle.
Fold dough over making it into a semicircle. Moisten edges of dough circle and pinch sides together with a fork.
Lightly brush tops of pies with the rest of the beaten egg. Place on baking parchment and place in oven for 25 minutes or until slightly brown.
Serve hot.
Tip
Be very careful the amount of water you put at a time or dough can become sticky. If it becomes sticky or too soft, put it in the fridge for about 10 minutes for it to cool.
The Adom Home Cooking Recipe is one, which we have tried with comparable results to meat pies we were more familiar with.
We tried variations of the Adom Home Cooking recipe using baking soda and without baking soda. The one without baking soda came out softer than the baking soda version.
Our first batch of homemade meat pie, though not aesthetically pleasing we were delighted by the taste.
We also realized that the quality of butter affected the outcome of the dough. The higher quality of butter minus baking soda the easier it was to knead and cut the dough into semi-circles. We used a ratio of 1.8 cups of flour for every cup of butter.We also did not add water in the preparation of our dough ether although some bakers we consulted suggested that as an option to make it easier to work with the dough.
Please share with us your experience with making meat pies including your recipe of the best meat pie you have ever tasted or just where to find it if you do not have the recipe.