It turns out trying to make a pie on a weeknight isn’t very practical. Most recipes want you to spend lots of time making the filling before getting anywhere near the pastry and pie part. I think what I’ll have to do it make the filling the night before.

One pie I should have time to make in an evening is a simple minced meat pie. I found a recipe for spicy lamb pie in Rover Cottage Family (p289) so I’m going to make that, but with a little tailoring of the spice mix to suit our tastes.

So fry up garlic and onions.

Add spices (ground cumin, cloves, cinnamon & chili flakes), chopped tomatoes, bit of red wine vinegar, simmer down to a thick sauce, then off the heat and add chopped fresh coriander.

Then to the pastry… This didn’t go well. The first roll was way too thin, and re-roll not much better. Much patching was needed before the filling was added.

The top went better, and the Star Wars Tie Fighter and X-Wing even better than that :)

Egg wash then bake…

Clearly the egg wash wasn’t that even. Then the slicing… yeah it all kinda fell apart. Next time: make the base much thicker!

We’ll serve with mash, broccoli & cabbage.

Despite the pastry’s structural issues, it was lovely and short. And the flavour was great, nicely warm without being overly hot.