Irish Meat Hand Pies Recipe

No, we are not talking about Mrs. Lovett’s Meat Pies! Sweeny Todd has not made a visit to our home, no worries here. These are just gorgeous, tasty, wonderful, portable food. These are actually called Dingle Pies. I re-named them as I just didn’t think that name would go over very well with an American audience. These Dingle pies are actually made with lamb, but as that is not as readily available here I used beef.

Let me tell you I really prefer lamb. Like I could eat lamb every day of my life. This is coming from the girl who really only eats red meat because I live with 2 men. I could go the rest of my life and never have another piece of cow touch my lips and never think twice. So when I say I love lamb you get how much that really means! As good as this pie looks and as good as it tasted it would be phenomenal with lamb.

So a bit about that name Dingle. Well, it is a county in Ireland, and these hand pies are famous in this area. August 1st marks Lammas Day an Anglo Saxon (go figure) traditional first day of the Harvest. These pies are a big portion of the food served at Lammas Festivals in the county of Dingle. Hence, Dingle Pies. Still, I think I’ll call them meat hand pies, I am sure you can guess at all the fun my hubby and the boy had with this name.

Read Also:- Ham and Pineapple Kabobs Recipe

Funny name aside these are an entire meal all wrapped up in a delicious flakey crust! Inside there are tasty little cubes of meat, potatoes, carrots, celery, and spices. I love watching the steam come out when you make the first cut into the pie. You just know that you are about to dig into something really special. We ate them with a knife and fork of course but the main reason that they were made like this was so they could be transported and eaten like a sandwich so there’s the name Hand Pie. Just a note on the side… the 20-year-old ate them with his hands. Oh well….

Look at that crisp buttery crust. You know that you just want to dive in and eat the whole thing! These are great for a dinner party as you don’t really have to serve many, or any for that matter, side dishes. Plus they look really fancy and your guests will think that you slaved over them all day. Guess what you won’t have to as these are really easy to make! They are a little time-consuming but still easy. To make the pies you need 2 plates as guides to cut the circles. One needs to be smaller than the other.

For the bottom, I used a small dessert plate and for the top layer, I used a saucer. Just use ready-to-use Pillsbury Pie Crusts. (Don’t use a generic brand, it has to be Pillsbury to get this amazing golden flakey crust) I bet that you have all the ingredients in your kitchen right now. Another really good thing about this meal? Super easy leftovers, just pop the pie in the oven and re-heat. I did accidentally make more meat and veg filling than I had pie crusts for, so I just mixed in some cream of celery soup and made mini pot pies in ramekins!

So cute huh? These were the perfect lunch the next day with a green side salad. The mini pot pies are just as portable as the meat pies. Taken to work in your lunch or just to serve as a heavy after-school snack these mini pot pies are just as good on their own!

Ingredients

• 2 packages Pillsbury Pie Crusts
• 1/2 large onion diced
• 2 russet potatoes peeled and diced
• 2 carrots diced
• 2 celery sticks diced
• 1 lb (or more) chuck or round steak cubed
• Salt, Pepper, onion, and garlic powders to taste (not sure what your taste is go with 1 tsp each)
• 1 egg beaten

Instructions

• In a skillet combine onion, celery potatoes, carrots, salt let the veg sweat and soften up a little
• once sweated add the meat in and the pepper, onion, and garlic powders
• let cook for 3 min (taste and adjust seasoning as needed)
• remove skillet and let the mixture cool. (I placed it in the fridge. The heat will melt and turn your crust soggy. So chilling is important.
• roll out each round of the pie crust (2 packages make 4 rounds)
• Place the dessert dish and trace with a paring knife
• gather up pie scrap and re-roll and cut the smaller round using a saucer
• do this to all 4 rounds out of the package
• (Each round makes one complete pie with a little scrap left over for decorative cutouts and enough to make the little pot pies)
• Pre heat to 350
• Once cool place approx 1/4 cup mixture in the center of each large pie crust circle
• place the smaller pie crust circle on top of the mixture
• roll up the sides of the larger over the edge of the smaller to complete the pie crimp with fingers to secure
• pierce a hole in the top to let the steam vent while cooking
• brush the tops and rolled sides with the beaten egg for a more golden top
• Gently place pies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 350 for 50 min
• they are best served hot out of the oven but as they were designed to be portable in the 1400’s you can also eat them cold.
• Enjoy!