Ingredients

Method

• 2 T olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and diced
• 1 roll puff pastry
• 250 g beef mince
• salt, to taste
• 50 g tomato paste (optional)
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce (optional)
• 1 egg, beaten

Method

Ingredients

1. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and fry, stirring frequently, until translucent. Add the mince and brown, then season with salt and the tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce (if using). Cook through, remove from heat and allow to cool.

2. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

3. Roll out the puff pastry to ½ mm. If you have a pie cutter, use it to cut out circle shapes. Place about 1 T of meat filling on one half of the circle, dampen the edges with a bit of water, and close the pie cutter to seal the edges. (If you don’t have a pie cutter, use a glass or cookie cutter to cut out the pastry circles, and seal manually.) Make sure not to overfill the perogen – you don’t want the filling to ooze out. Arrange the sealed perogen on a baking tray, brush with the beaten egg and bake at 180°C for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve with chicken soup.

Cook’s notes: Uncooked (and not brushed with egg), perogen freeze very well. I usually buy 500 g of mince, and use 2 rolls of puff pastry to make them in bulk. The puff pastry should be at room temperature but not too sticky – take it out of the freezer an hour before use.

Find more pie recipes here.

Production: Khanya Mzongwana
Photography: Toby Murphy