If there is something I really like it’s meat pies. I like to eat them and luckily enough for me, I love to make them. It’s looking good on the table, it’s tasty and comforting. The full flavors and the richness of the dough match perfectly with the light crisp style of almost any Beaujolais. Particularly the ones we make, on granit soils, with spices and a mineral feel.

You can make meat pies starting with raw meat but it’s actually much easier to take the leftovers from, let’s say, Sunday’s lunch. The advantage of this trick is also less cooking time but more than anything, you also get the benefits of the first cooking : sauce and roasted or smoky flavors.

Essential ingredients for a meat pie :

- The meat : lamb, chicken, duck, pork. You can mix several types of meat of course. I like to put some pork sausage with chicken. Mix different white meats, beef and foie gras…

- The dough : puff pastry or just pastry will work. If the puff is too puffy, it will be harder to design on it.

- One egg plus one for the glaze. Or just save a bit of the yellow for the glaze.

- One type or more of vegetables : mushrooms are easy, courgette, aubergine, carotte, green pies or even a sliced potato on the top of it.

- You can add the meat sauce, for a juicer result, some wine, herbs, shallots, garlic, foie gras, spices… and any creative ingredient that you feel might work.

A pie is nice to make because it’s a very creative dish, it’s versatile and combinaisons are unlimited. You can even make it in advance, which gives you time to welcome your guest or relax before the meal.

So it’s how it goes:

1. - Put the oven on, around 180°C, and choose a good bottle of Beaujolais. it works with all Vicky’s wines .
2. - Lay the dough on a pie dish, or just lay it flat.
3. - Using a food processor really helps but otherwise chop the ingredients all together. If you are using courgettes or mushrooms, you might consider cooking them a bit before, maybe in a pan with some of the meat sauce or just olive oil.
4. - Add up an egg to the mix, stir it in
5. - Put the whole mix on the dough
6. - If you’d like, add a layer on the top of the mixe, like finely sliced cooked potatoes or raw courgette, or foie gras or anything that could work. (Aubergine with Lamb, Beef and Foie Gras…)

Closing the pie:

- Again there is no end to how you can close it. If you bought a round ready made pastry, just close it on the top of the pie, pinching to make the parts stick together. For a more sophisticated finish, cut the extra dough on the side, lay it flat again, and cover the mix. You can close in the same way by pinching the two parts.

- You can also decide to make it braided, then it’s better if your piece of dough is rectangular. Then put the mix in the middle, cut the extra dough on the sides in layers and close the pie by bringing the layers to the center the one after the other. It’s maybe more tricky.

Once closed, you can decorate as you wish, with a knife or extra dough. Don’t forget to glaze with a bit of egg yolk and you are on to a good time!

Send me your pies @vickywine Bon Appétit & À bientôt !