Aussie meat pie with tomato sauce

Australia's great institution: a hand-sized shortcrust and puff pastry case filled with minced beef in a thick, savoury gravy, baked until golden and eaten burning-hot with a generous squeeze of tomato sauce: the most Australian thing you can eat

Origin: Australia

From the journey of Tomato.

The meat pie is as Australian as Vegemite, the Hills Hoist and the term 'G'day'. It is the food of football stadiums, bakeries, service stations, school canteens and race days: a hand-held meal consumed standing up, often burning the roof of your mouth, always with tomato sauce. The relationship between the meat pie and tomato sauce (the Australian word for ketchup) is indissoluble: to eat a meat pie without tomato sauce is, in the Australian imagination, almost as eccentric as eating Vegemite with a spoon. The Australian meat pie has British antecedents: the pasty and pork pie tradition of Cornwall and Yorkshire; but it evolved distinctly in the Australian context: smaller (individual-sized), rounder, with a shortcrust base and puff pastry lid, and filled with minced beef rather than whole chunks. The first commercial bakeries producing meat pies appeared in Australian cities in the 1870s and 1880s. Harry's Café de Wheels in Woolloomooloo, Sydney; open since 1938; is the most famous pie vendor in Australia, serving the 'Tiger' (pie with a mushy pea and potato mash topping) as a Sydney institution. The combination of the pie's rich, savour gravy and the bright acidity of the tomato sauce is the Platonic pairing: the tomato cuts the fat and enriches the pastry in the same spoonful.

Ingredients

Shortcrust base

500 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
250 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 tsp fine sea salt
120 ml ice-cold water

Puff lid

2 sheets ready-made puff pastry (375g total), thawed
1 egg beaten, for egg wash

Filling

700 g beef mince (20% fat, do not use lean mince, the fat is essential for flavour)
1 large onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp tomato paste
300 ml beef stock
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt, plus black pepper to taste

To serve

Tomato sauce (ketchup) to serve, generously

Method

Make the shortcrust pastry: pulse flour, butter and salt in a food processor until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs with some larger butter pieces. Add ice water gradually, pulsing until the dough just comes together. Shape into a disc, wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.
Make the filling: cook the mince in a dry non-stick pan over high heat, breaking up with a spoon, until browned. Work in batches if needed; the mince should brown, not steam. Remove from pan. In the same pan, cook the onion in a little oil for 5 minutes. Add garlic, cook 1 minute.
Return the mince to the pan with the onion. Add the flour and stir through for 2 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook 1 minute. Add beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and seasoning. Stir to combine. Simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes until the gravy is very thick and coats the mince heavily. Spread on a tray to cool completely.
Preheat oven to 200°C/180°C fan. Roll the shortcrust pastry to 3mm thick. Cut circles to line 6 greased individual pie tins (10cm diameter, 3cm deep). Press the pastry into the tins, ensuring no air pockets. Trim the edges.
Fill each pastry case with the cold meat filling, coming to just below the rim of the pastry. Cut puff pastry circles slightly larger than the pie tins. Brush the rim of the shortcrust with egg wash. Press the puff pastry lid on firmly, crimping the edges to seal. Brush the top with egg wash. Cut a small steam hole in the centre.
Bake for 25–30 minutes until the puff pastry lid is deeply golden, puffed and crisp. The shortcrust base should be set and pale gold.
Remove from tins carefully. Rest for 5 minutes; they will be extremely hot inside. Serve immediately with an extremely generous squeeze of tomato sauce directly on top. Eat holding the pie in one hand, burning the roof of your mouth, standing up.

Notes

The measure of a good pie: it should hold together when picked up but collapse slightly when bitten into, the gravy running down your hand. A pie that is entirely structural and holds its shape when bitten is too dry. A pie that falls apart before you can pick it up is too wet. The ideal is somewhere between structural integrity and interior abundance.

The Gastrographer

Name: Aussie meat pie with tomato sauce
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 3 h
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Australia
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting; 250 g cold unsalted butter, cubed; 1 tsp fine sea salt; 120 ml ice-cold water; 2 sheets ready-made puff pastry (375g total), thawed; 1 egg beaten, for egg wash; 700 g beef mince (20% fat, do not use lean mince, the fat is essential for flavour); 1 large onion, finely diced; 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped; 2 tbsp plain flour; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 300 ml beef stock; 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce; 1 tsp soy sauce; 1 tsp salt, plus black pepper to taste; Tomato sauce (ketchup) to serve, generously

Mapping Culinary History

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control