As St. Patrick’s day quickly approaches, the one thing that always excites us about this holiday (and most holiday’s) are the seasonal recipes that come along with them. Much like the rice crispy treats we shared last week, these hand pies will help get anyone in the mood for the Feast of Saint Patrick.
Neither Sammy nor I are of Irish descent, however one of our favorite colors is green and that definitely helps us embrace and celebrate this cultural holiday. Now, the recipe we have for you today isn’t green, but it’s certainly festive. It’s a guinness infused beef and vegetable hand pie, and is one of the tastier recipes we’ve ever shared. Perfect for any St. Patrick’s Day gathering and/or party you might be hosting.

We probably should discuss one more exciting Holiday we are celebrating, which takes place today, and it’s National Pie Day! Happy Pie Day everyone! We love these two for one blog post’s, and i’d love to tell you it was a happy accident, but nothing is when you are total control freaks like Sammy and I. All of our blog posts get planned out a month in advice which give us the opportunity to schedule important Holiday’s and fun national food days. For business purposes being in control is so important, however, sometimes it makes it hard to just go with the flow of life. Things are always changing, and that’s the one thing that’s always constant. I think it helps to talk about it, and remind ourselves of this when we start to struggle with what is out of our control. It’s funny because one of the things that Sammy and I have in common is we find comfort in being in the kitchen. But not all time spent in the kitchen is to seek refuge from life’s struggle, and it’s certainly been trying times for us these past few weeks. When we got in the kitchen last week to prep and shoot these hand pies, we both were feeling very distracted. Within minutes after beginning, we both noticed that cooking became the distraction from our distractions. Not to mention the delicious meal we got out of it, now that’s a win win in our books.

Keep in mind, as delicious as these are, the prep is more time consuming than a lot of the recipes we post but doable for all cooking skill levels. We hope you enjoy, happy cooking everyone!
Prep Time | 25 minutes |
Cook Time | 1 hour 45 minutes |
Servings |
mini pies
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- 2 tbs olive oil
- 2 lb ground beef
- 1 large red onion, chopped
- 3 small carrots, chopped (about 1 cup)
- kosher salt
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbs tomato paste
- 1 tbs green peppercorn in brine, drained and roughly chopped
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 cup guinness irish stout
- 1 tbs worcestershire sauce
- a few springs of thyme
- 1 tbs Cornstarch
- 1 tbs water
- 2 packages store-bought pie crust
- 1 large egg
- 2 tbs water
Ingredients
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|
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large heavy-bottomed pan or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add in the ground beef and a pinch of salt, and brown for a couple minutes. Transfer to a bowl (don't worry if some parts are still raw, it's all going back in shortly).
- Add the onion, carrot, and another pinch of salt to the pan and sauté for 5 minutes, until soft. Add in the garlic and cook for another 3 minutes. Add in the tomato paste and peppercorns and cook for 1 minute. Add the beef back in, along with any juices that have accumulated, along with the broth Guinness, Worcestershire sauce, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then cover and put in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove the cover and cook for another 45 minutes.
- Remove from the oven. In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch and water and add to the beef mixture. Stir together. Season, to taste, with salt. Allow to cool before filling pies. (The colder the filling the easier assembling the pies will be. You could even refrigerate the filling overnight.)
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Roll out your pie crust on a lightly-floured surface to about 1/4"-thick. Cut out two different-sized circles using circular cookie cutters (one larger than the base of the muffin tin, and one about the size of the top of each mold). Place the larger circle into the muffin tin and press up the sides. Spoon in the filling, leaving a little room at the top. Place the smaller circle of dough on top, and press to seal (a form will help here). Cut a small "x" in the top of each pie.
- Mix the egg and water together in a small bowl, and brush over the tops of each pie.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the crust is fully cooked through, golden brown, and flakey.
Adapted From: Spache the Spatula
YUM. I adore these small savory bites! Perfect for st patrick’s day.