Mini chilli beef pies recipe

This brilliant mini chilli beef pies can be served warm with chips or cold with a crisp green salad. 

They are also a great way of using up leftover chilli con carne if you've cooked a big batch for dinner. In fact, they're so useful, we'd say it's worth making extra chilli just so you can have a few of these as well. They freeze well too. If you're going on a picnic, wrap each pie in a piece of kitchen towel, then pop them in a sandwich bag or tuppaware box. They're easier to make than classic pork pies but they're just as good on a picnic spread.

Ingredients

• 175g lean beef mince
• 1 small onion, chopped
• ½-1 tsp hot chilli powder, to taste
• 1 large ripe tomato, chopped
• 50g cooked kidney beans
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 250g shortcrust pastry
• 1 egg, beaten, to glaze

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C/400°F/Fan 180°C/Gas Mark 6. Lightly grease a 12 cup muffin or deep cup cake tin. Put the mince in a bowl and mix in the onion, chilli to taste, tomato and kidney beans. Season well. Set aside.
2. Roll out the pastry thinly on a lightly floured surface. Using a 9cm round pastry cutter, stamp out 9 circles, reserving the trimmings. Gently press each circle into the tins. Put a portion of filling in each and pack down well to just below the pastry rim. Brush the exposed pastry with water.
3. Roll out the trimmings thinly and stamp out 9 x 6cm rounds, re-rolling as necessary.  Press a circle of pastry on top of each pie and pinch the edges together to seal. Make a hole in the centre of each and brush the tops with egg.
4. Bake in the oven for about 30 mins until golden and cooked through. Cool for 10mins, before carefully removing from the tins and transferring to a wire rack. Serve warm or allow to cool completely. Delicious with chilli tomato sauce and a crisp salad.

Top tip for making mini chilli beef pies

This is a versatile recipe so you can change the filling to any minced meat, and add your own spices to taste. Replace the beans with sweetcorn if preferred. If you're serving these hot, you could add a layer of grated cheddar in the top of the pie as well.

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• Beef Wellington
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