Ghana-style meat pies are mainly loved because of their rich shortcrust pastry and filling. Most times the rich pastry is more desirable than the filling. In Ghana, meat pies are usually sold as street food snacks.
Everyone has their favorite vendor. People do travel at length just to buy their favorite pie from a particular vendor. This shows how we love our meat pies and how important the meat pie needs to be good tasting and tick all the points. Getting the pie crust to be good is sometimes a challenge.
If you are like me and struggle with making short crust pastry, then this version of my short crust pastry will be the thing for you. It is so easy to make. For this pie pastry, I give credit to my lovely friend, Mina. Until Mina, let me into her secret, I always struggled with getting the perfect pie pastry all the time. Since she showed me her version, I have never looked back.
I have tried various versions but always go back to this easy and fail-proof method. The result is a crumbly rich pastry that just melts in your mouth. This Christmas, give this recipe a try; your friends will keep coming back for more in the coming year. Enjoy.
Ghana Style Corned Beef Meat Pie
Ingredients
Pie Pastry
- 500 g Plain Flour plus more for rolling
- 500 g Vegetable Fat Spread (for baking and cooking)/ Margarine
- Pinch of Nutmeg
- 1 Egg for brushing
Filling
- 340 g Corned Beef
- 1/3 Cup Red Onion, diced
- 1/3 Cup Fresh Tomatoes, diced
- 1 Maggie Cube, crushed
Instructions
- Prepare the pie filling first. Warmup a frying pan or pot and add the oil.
- Once hot, add the diced onions and sauté until it’s soft.
- Add the diced tomatoes and stir. Season with the crushed Maggie cube. Fry for about a 1 minute.
- Now add the corned beef and stir. Fry for another minute and remove from heat.
- Sift the flour and pinch of nutmeg into a bowl.
- Add the vegetable fat spread to the flour. Note, vegetable fat spread should be at room temperature.
- Using the finger tips, incorporate the spread into the flour. When well incorporated, this will be soft and sticky dough. Fear not as this is exactly what you want.
- On a floured surface, roll out small batches of the dough. Flour dust the rolling pin to prevent the dough from sticking on to it. The floured surface and rolling pin, makes it easier to handle the pastry dough.
- Using a round cookie cutter or a shaped cutter of your choice, cut the pastry dough into required shapes.
- Add spoonfuls of the filling to the centre of each shape. Fold it over and use a fork or finger to crimp the edges. Use the fork to create holes on top of the pie, use any design you prefer. The holes allow steam to emanate from the filling during baking.
- Grease and flour a baking tray.
- Whisk the egg and set aside to be used as an egg wash.
- Heat up the oven to 200oC.
- Bake the pie until it has a golden brown colour on the surface. This will take about 20 – 30 minutes.
- Remove the pie and let it cool down.
- Serve the pie warm or cold with your preferred beverage or drink or basically enjoy it as a snack.
