Home made meat pies
I LOVE meat pie, back from school days buying them in their little plastic bag and foil tray heated in the pie warmer from the canteen for a treat from the usual sandwich. I love them at morning tea at work, and the best ones are the ones topped with mash potato and gravy – yuuummmm. But obviously, to maintain your figure, you can’t have them EVERY day. And what about all those A Current Affair segments on how foreign snouts tails and even rats make it in the slurry?? yuck! The solution? Home made meat pies! OK, fair enough, it’s not a weeknight meal, but it CAN be if you have some leftover beef casserole lingering around which I did. Then all you need to do is make the pastry. I couldn’t be bothered buying some and defrosting only to have another 4 sheets hanging around my freezer. I found this terrific recipe that required only 250g plain flour, 125g butter and an egg. You put the flour and butter (I used low fat margarine) in a food processor and blend until it resembles bread crumbs. Then, drizzle in the beaten egg and a tablespoon of water until the mixture comes into a ball. Kneed it a bit and form into a disc and put it in the fridge to rest. Then, roll out a disc the size of your tin (I used a mini spring form tin) and line the base and sides. I put my filling in – I didn’t even bother reheating it – and then rolled out a lid and pleated it. 30 minutes at 200 degrees, voila!
I was soooo happy with the result. The top and side were crispy and “short”, and the filling was JUST hot but not burn your mouth hot. Next time maybe I’ll take it out of the tin to finish off in the oven, because the base wasn’t as brown as the rest. But nevertheless, pat on the back. To save time, I’m now going to use the rest of my pastry and line the springform tins and put them in my freezer for next time 
