My darling friend Emily comes from a long line of impressive bakers. She has much coveted pie traditions with her sweet mother and beloved departed nana. It’s so wonderful to keep those beautiful traditions alive from generation to generation. It keeps us grounded and reminds us where we came from and that we are part of something bigger. We are simply a leaf on a giant tree deeply rooted in the past. There is something profoundly comforting in that anchor when this life can sometimes feel as if you’re bobbing like a canoe in the sea! Some traditions, especially those based in food, allow each generation to keep the old but also customize a dish to make it a bit of their own. This pie is exactly such tradition with small tweaks to herbs, spices and ratios to make this an adapted version of a treasured recipe. Beautiful! For the original recipe passed down from Emily’s nana and some family photos of wonderful women check out her mama Lori’s blog.
Emily makes just about the flakiest, lightly crisp crust I have ever seen (or heard)! Rarely am I so heartbroken to avoid gluten. My husband tells me that flakey crust is a buttery, delicious delight. Emily cuts the butter into the dough by hand, which she says makes all the difference. I believe it! That crust…hubba hubba!
So go cover your kitchen in flour and start (or preserve) a lovely family tradition!
ps: I meant to post this recipe before the holidays but got wrapped up in my own holiday celebration with my little girl’s first Christmas and meeting all of her east coast family. What a beautiful time:)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ pound + 2⅔ Tablespoons butter, chilled
- ¼ cup very cold water
- ¾ pounds ground beef
- ¾ pounds ground pork (butt/shoulder)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 cloves garlic, minced
- 1½ teaspoons sea salt
- 1 teaspoon sage
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoons allspice
- ¼ teaspoons pepper
- 1 egg white, beaten for brushing crust
- In a large bowl, cut butter into flour until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Sprinkle in water 1 Tablespoon at a time and toss with a fork until dough begins to come together. Gather into a ball and divide dough into 2 equal balls, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- In a large dutch oven, saute onion and garlic. Add beef and pork and cook through. Mix in herbs and spices.
- On a large floured surface, divide one dough ball in half (if making mini pies, if making 10" single pie do not divide dough) and roll out one of the halves. Lay in a 6" pie tin. Using a slotted spoon, spoon filling into crust until flush with top of pie pan. Roll out other half of dough ball, place over filling and seal and trim edges. Brush crust with egg white. Repeat for remaining 4 pies.
- Bake at 375 degrees for around 30 minutes until golden brown.
Looks at that perfect crust! YUM!
Thank you to these inspiring matriarchs….
Thanks so much for publishing. This brings back memories of my ‘memere’ making these meat pies for us when I was a little girl. The recipe has long been lost, so I am eager to try this one and see if it measures up!