Australian Lamb Pie With Roots

Australian Lamb Pie With Roots

These pies are real taste treats. Made with a rough puff flaky pastry and filled with braised lamb and root vegetables, they are an integral part of Australian cooking. These are the kind of pies sold late at night from pie wagons, beloved of Australians. Make the pastry while the filling bakes. You can use packaged puff pastry if desired, but look for the all-butter kind. If you don’t have a heavy ovenproof casserole that goes on top of the stove, use a frying pan and transfer to an ovenproof casserole. Serve these individual pies with puréed peas with mint.

FILLING

1 lb (500 g) lamb from the shoulder, cut into ½ inch (1 cm) cubes

1 tsp (5 mL) chopped rosemary

Salt and freshly ground pepper

¼ cup (60 mL) olive oil

1½ cups (375 mL) sliced leeks, white part only

¾ cup (175 mL) peeled and diced white turnips

¾ cup (175 mL) peeled and diced carrot

½ cup (125 mL) peeled and diced parsnip

½ cup (125 mL) chopped celery

½ tsp (2 mL) chopped garlic

1 tbsp (15 mL) flour

¼ cup (60 mL) red wine

1 cup (250 mL) lamb, beef or chicken stock

1 tbsp (15 mL) mint sauce

2 tsp (10 mL) Worcestershire sauce

Pinch chili flakes

ROUGH PUFF PASTRY

2½ cups (625 mL) all-purpose flour

1 tsp (5 mL) salt

1 cup (250 mL) frozen butter

¼ cup (60 mL) cold water mixed with 1 tbsp (15 mL) vinegar

EGG WASH

1 egg beaten with pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C).

2. To make filling, season lamb with rosemary, salt and pepper. Heat 2 tbsp (30 mL) oil in ovenproof heavy casserole over high heat. Add lamb in batches and brown well on each side, about 1 minute per side, removing meat as it browns. Reduce heat to medium and add leeks, turnips, carrots, parsnips and celery. If pan seems dry, add more oil. Cook until vegetables are beginning to soften and turn golden, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 more minute.

3. Remove vegetables from pot and reserve. Add remaining oil and stir in flour. Cook until the flour is golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in red wine and bring to a boil. Add stock, mint sauce, Worcestershire and chili flakes, scraping up brown bits from bottom of pot. Cook 2 to 3 minutes more or until mixture is slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Return meat and vegetables to liquid. Cover and bake for 1 to 1½ hours or until meat and vegetables are tender and sauce is thickened. If sauce is not thick enough, remove lid and bake another 15 minutes or until sauce thickens. Cool filling.

5. To make pastry, combine flour and salt in a bowl. Grate frozen butter into flour mixture. Stir in water-vinegar mixture. Gently combine together until flour is fully incorporated and dough holds together. Roll out into a rectangle about 18 x 7-inches (45 x 18-cm). Dough will look streaky. Fold into thirds with the shorter ends overlapping. Turn dough one-quarter turn. Roll out once more and fold into thirds again. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 30 minutes. Remove from freezer. Repeat rolling and folding the dough a third time, then roll out into a rectangle about ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick.

6. Cut six 5-inch (12-cm) rounds and six 4-inch (10-cm) rounds. If you need to reroll dough to make enough rounds, fold it together (to preserve the layers) but do not squeeze into a ball; after folding together, reroll dough. Chill rounds for 20 minutes.

7. To make the pies, increase oven to 400°F (200°C).

8. Press larger rounds into mu§n tins, making sure you have about a ½-inch (1-cm) overhang. Fill each with ½ cup (125 mL) lamb mixture, mounded in centre. Brush overhanging pastry with egg wash. Press smaller rounds on top of each pie and crimp together. Brush tops with egg wash and cut a small hole in pastry to allow steam to escape. Bake on bottom rack of oven 30 to 35 minutes or until pastry is golden and filling is hot.

Serves 6