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Note: The amount of pastry dough will depend on the size of pie you want to make.
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This recipe can make various types or sizes of pies:
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For 24 muffin tray size pies, youll need 6 sheets shortcrust pastry and 4 sheets puff pastry.
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For 16 mini loaf tray size pies, youll need 4 sheets shortcrust pastry and 2 sheets puff pastry.
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For 2 muffin tray size pies and a standard size pie, youll need 3 sheets shortcrust pastry plus 2 sheets puff pastry for the muffin pies, and 1 sheet of each for the big pie (or a total of 4 sheets shortcrust pastry and 3 sheets puff pastry).
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For 8 mini loaf tray size pies and a standard size pie, youll need 2 sheets shortcrust pastry and 1 sheet puff pastry for the mini loaf pies, and 1 sheet of each for the big pie (or a total of 3 sheets shortcrust pastry and 2 sheets puff pastry).
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For the pie filling:
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Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large saucepan or frying pan on medium to high heat.
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(You will need a large saucepan to make the gravy, but I use a frypan to brown the meat.)
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Brown beef, in batches if you have to, transferring the browned beef to a large bowl while you finish browning the rest of the beef.
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At this point I changed from using a frying pan to a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan on medium heat.
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Add remaining oil and onion and fry for 3 minutes over medium heat.
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Add mushrooms and cook for a few minutes, or until soft.
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Return beef to saucepan.
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Add flour, nutmeg and tomato paste.
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Stir for about 1 minute.
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If you dont like a very thick tomato gravy, then add 1/2 cup of tomato paste.
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However, I recommend trying it with the thick gravy.
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Add the Worcestershire sauce and the stock.
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Season with salt and pepper to taste.
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Add the water.
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The flour will make the mixture very thick, so the water is needed to thin it out.
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Be careful, you dont want too much water because the mixture is going to go in pies.
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With the lid on the saucepan, bring the mixture to a boil.
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Once bubbling, reduce the heat.
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Allow the mixture to simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes with lid on saucepan.
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Stir regularly.
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Allow the mixture to cool slightly.
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Defrost the pastry you are using.
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Do this about 5 minutes before you need to make the pies.
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To make the pies:
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Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (390 degrees F).
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Grease muffin tin holes/mini loaf pans with butter or oil.
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Do this liberally as we want the pies to come out easily.
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Line each muffin/loaf hole with shortcrust pastry up to the rim.
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I use a cup that is a centimeter or so bigger than the muffin holes to cut circles in the pastry.
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The cup will cut through the pastry and you can peel it away to line the tray with.
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If doing this in mini loaf pans, measure the mini loaf size and, adding a centimeter on either side of the rectangle, score the pastry to the size of the pan.
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Using a knife cut out a rectangle and line the tray with the pastry.
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Spoon filling into muffin/loaf holes.
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Cut circles/rectangles of puff pastry to fit top of pies.
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Press puff against shortcrust pastry to seal each pie.
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Brush pies with beaten egg and make a small hole in centre of pie to release steam (poke with a fork).
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Bake pies for 10 minutes.
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Reduce oven heat to 160 degrees C (320 degrees F) and bake for 20-25 minutes.
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The top of the pies should be flaky and a lovely golden brown.
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Be careful not to burn the pastry.
