John Torode's corned beef hash party pies
A wave of nostalgia has hit shoppers with reports of an increase in sales of the war time staples corned beef and Spam, up by 64% and 48%! Today, John transforms the humble tin of corned beef into delicious corned beef hash party pies!
Corned Beef Hash Party Pies
Makes 15 - 18 mini pies
Ingredients
30g butter1 large onion, sliced340g tin corned beef or spam, chilled and cut into 1 cm cubes200g cooked potatoes, chopped into 1cm cubes1 beef stock cubePinch of ground nutmegSalt and freshly ground black pepper1 tbsp flour, plain250m stock (or water)1 tsp Vegemite or MarmiteLard, for greasing tins2 x 340g rolls ready rolled puff pastry
For the pie toppings, your choice of:400g mashed potato400g macaroni cheese400g cauliflower cheese240g puff pastry (plus 1 beaten egg)100g grated cheese- such as cheddar or mozzarella
Method
1. To make the filling, heat the butter in a heavy based frying pan then add the onions and cubed meat and stir over a high heat - the meat needs to be well browned and crisp so it has some flavour, or it can be a bit mushy and bland.
2. Add the potatoes and crumble in the stock cube then add nutmeg and seasoning. Cook for a further 5 minutes to get some colour.
3. Sprinkle with the flour and mix, add the stock and vegemite and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
4. Preheat the oven to 180°C, Gas 4. Grease the pie tins with lard, then use a 10cm cutter to cut out circles from the puff pastry and use to line the tins. Carefully layer the pastry trimmings on top of each other, then roll out and cut to make additional bases. Fill the centre with cold meat mixture.
5. Top with your choice of mashed potato, macaroni cheese, cauliflower cheese or a puff pastry lid. For the puff pastry, cut out rounds to fit the top of the pies. Wet the edges of the base pastry, and gently press the tops into place. Trim around the edges with a sharp knife and pierce the centre. Brush tops with the beaten egg.
6. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown, then carefully remove from the oven and sprinkle grated cheese over the pies. Reduce the oven temperature to 160C then cook for a further 10 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before gently removing from the tins.