meat pie: savory ground beef and sweet potato pie

Somewhere between a Kulebyaka and a midwestern meat pie (which I honestly didn’t know was a thing until the internet told me so, if you’re familiar please share!) this savory meat pie made with ground beef and an enriched dough is comfort food for a crowd (or for two) easily sharable and even when your decorative skills are minimal like myself still golden and glossy enough to impress.  If you want to see a true work of art check out this Kulebyaka  from Milk and Bun filled with salmon, rice, and mushrooms, it is truly lovely (and  offers a different wrapping technique)

I originally made this for Pi Day. When asked for the recipe I didn’t have one (“oh, you’re one of those people!”) and so I had to do it again. There were changes, carrots became sweet potatoes, mushrooms became leafy greens but the straight forward seasonings and enriched dough remain the same.  

Meat Pie

this is enough filling for two medium or one large meat pies- instructions are for one medium pie- there are just two of us so I like to make one pie one day and bake the other one for lunches later in the week. As an added bonus the smaller pies make it a little easier to eat since the filling isn’t bound with egg or bread it likes to crumble out.

The dough, the dough.

meat pie

 a savory meat pie made with lean ground beef, sweet potato, and leeks- all wrapped in a delicious homemade milk dough

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 25 mins

Total Time 40 mins

Course Bread, Main Course

Cuisine American, Baking

Ingredients

  

• 2 lbs dough for all seasons- just made or chilled
• 1 lb ground beef I used a leaner ground, you can use a fattier blend but may need to drain the meat after browning
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato paste optional
• 6 ounces diced sweet potato 1 small sweet potato, about one cup finely diced
• 4 ounces diced leek 1 medium leek, about one cup
• 1/2-1 cup other green things or veggies- this is an opportunity to use up those little bits of this and that- potato carrot, mushroom, onion, herbs like parsley, kale or other leafy greens
• pepper and pepper flakes to taste
• 1 egg for egg wash
• seeds for sprinkling poppy or charnushka

Instructions

 

• pre-heat oven to 350F
• brown ground beef and drain if necessary
• after browning add remaining ingredients and cook until veggies have softened and any leafy greens or mushrooms have released most of their moisture about five more minutes over medium heat- remove from heat and set aside to cool while you prepare the dough
• lightly whisk the egg in a small bowl for egg wash
• using dough straight from the refrigerator makes handling easier, if the dough is chilled you can use less flour to prevent sticking as well
• divide one pound of dough into two rounds approximately 14 inches round and 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, flouring the dough as necessary to prevent sticking. If the dough is too stiff to comfortably work do an initial roll out and let rest to warm at room temperature for five or ten minutes before continuing. if desired reserve a small portion of dough for decorative purposes.
• note- the rounds don’t have to be round- rectangles work too just as long as both pieces are approximately the same size. or, alternately you can rollout one big piece of dough and fold it in half to enclose the pie
• place the bottom piece of dough on a parchment or silpat lined sheet pan and heap half of the cooled filling on top (or all, of course, if using all the dough) leaving a two inch gap around the edges, brush the edges with the egg wash and top with the second piece of dough, crimp firmly to seal (the dough will rise in the oven and the seal may split a little but no worries as the filling is fairly dry)
• brush the egg wash over the top of the dough, decorate with extra dough bits and re- brush with egg
• sprinkle with seeds
• bake until golden brown- about 20-30 minutes, be sure to check the bottom for doneness as well

Notes

you can find the recipe for the dough here

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