Savory Beef & Lamb Pie

this meat pie is comfort food

My good friend Shira introduced us to this delicious pie. My husband loves it so much that she had to get in the habit of making two pies when hosting us — one for him and one for the rest of us (!). We can discuss those eating habits in another post. One version of this pie is from Michael Solomonov’s Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking. I have adapted it below and used a combination of beef and lamb. Some light cinnamon, a bit of parsley, some veg and store-bought puff pastry will keep you and your dinner-mates happy and satisfied!

ingredients

2 onions, finely chopped
3 carrots, finely chopped
1 lb ground beef*
1 lb ground lamb*
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon kosher salt
½ tablespoon black pepper
1 pound puff pastry, defrosted
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- *You can use 2 lbs of either beef or lamb instead of mixing the two.

steps

Chop up carrots and onions.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and carrots and sauté until they soften, but not browned, approximately 8 to 10 minutes.

Add beef, lamb, cinnamon, salt, and pepper, stirring to combine. Cook until the beef and lamb begin to brown, about 12-15 minutes. Let the mixture cool completely.

4. While the meat and veggies are cooking, roll out each piece (or if yours is in 1 piece, split it in half) of defrosted puff pastry with a floured rolling pin to roughly 9 x 11 inches. Line an 8- or 9- x 11-inch baking dish with 1 piece of pastry, pulling up the dough to cover the sides of baking dish.

5. Whisk 2 (out of the 3) eggs and add them to the cooled meat and veggie mixture.

6. Spoon mixture over pastry and top with chopped parsley.

7. Top with the remaining piece of rolled out pastry and pinch together the sides of both pieces of pastry. Chill in fridge for at least 1 hour (and up to 4 hours) or freeze for 15 minutes.

8. Heat oven to 400 ℉ and whisk remaining egg and brush over pastry. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

9. Bake the pie until golden on top, about 40 minutes. Allow to cool 15 to 20 minutes before cutting. The pie may initially seem wet when removed from the oven, but the pastry will quickly absorb the moisture as it sits.

10. Enjoy!