Natchitoches Meat Pies

Masters over for dindin - so while the boys played video games, us ladies made up a yummy feast!  We had this with Baked Mushroom Rice and had Caramel Apple Cider for dessert!  This took a little bit of time to make - but with 2 people, it went by fast and was totally worth it!  These were AMAZING!  My only recommendation is to try to add more of the meat mixture to each pie - the more stuffed, the better!

Makes about 12 6″ pies or lots and lots of small (biscuit cutter) pies - OBB 

Ingredients:

1/2 lb lean ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
2+ teaspoons Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning / Cajun seasoning
Tabasco sauce to taste (start with about 1/4 teaspoon)
1 can beef broth
3 (9 inch) pie crusts
1 egg
1/4 cup cold water

In a large skillet, brown ground beef and ground pork, breaking the meat into small pieces. When it’s about halfway cooked, drain excess fat (if necessary) and then add green and red peppers, onion, celery, and garlic. Cook until vegetables are tender and onions are translucent.

Add 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning and 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco. Add beef broth and bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Cook for about 20 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Season with additional Tony’s and Tabasco if necessary, keeping in mind that the seasonings will mellow in the pie. You can refrigerate this mixture for 3-4 days before baking the pies.

Prepare pie crust and roll the entire ball onto a floured surface. For large (meal-sized) pies, I use a bowl that’s about 6″ across the top; I just invert the bowl onto the dough and trace a knife around it to cut the dough.


Place about 1/4 cup of the meat mixture onto one half of the dough circle, keeping about a 1/2″-1″ margin from the edges.

Fold the other side over and gently pinch the edges shut.

For the decorative edge, you could crimp the edge with a fork or use your fingers to flute the edges.

Preheat oven to 400 and spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.  Place prepared pies onto your baking sheet. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and cold water and brush over the pies.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Allow to cool a few minutes and then eat as soon as humanly possible. So good. There are…no words.

FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS: You could do this one of two ways; you can freeze them unbaked and just add the egg wash and bake them for an extra 15-20 minutes, or you can bake them and heat them up in the oven or microwave, whatever suits your needs better.