Little Spring Lamb Filo Pies

Crispy, crunchy Little Spring Lamb Filo Pies make for a happy family at dinner time!

MAKES 12 LITTLE PIES

INGREDIENTS

200gm brown onion
150gm carrot
100gm celery
1 x medium sweetcorn cob
½ cup frozen baby peas
120gm bacon rashers
500gm lamb mince
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
250ml beef stock
2tsp cornflour + 20ml or so of water

12 sheets filo pastry
2 tablespoons olive oil

METHOD

1. Peel and chop onion into medium dice. Peel and cut carrot into 1cm chunks. Remove kernels from sweetcorn. Cut celery into 1cm dice.
2. Heat large frying pan over medium heat.
3. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and throw in prepared vegetables. Season with a good pinch salt and few grinds black pepper and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until softened and starting to colour. Remove from pan into a large bowl. Set aside.
4. While veggies are cooking, cut bacon into 1cm dice.
5. Add another tablespoon olive oil to frying pan (no need to wash). Fry bacon for a few minutes, stirring until it is starting to colour.
6. Add lamb mince over high heat. Don't stir for a minute, to allow meat to colour. Add a further couple pinches salt and couple grinds black pepper and cook meat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally until pink colour can no longer be seen.
7. Add tomato paste to lamb and stir through to briefly cook. Return vegetables to pan with peas, then add Worcestershire sauce.
8. Pour in beef stock then mix water with cornflour and add. Stir well and allow to simmer for a few minutes. Taste and amend seasoning if need be. Allow to cool then refrigerate until cold.
9. When ready to cook the pies, pre-heat oven to 180°C.
10. Prepare filo, one sheet at a time. Place a sheet of filo on bench with short sides at top and bottom. Brush lightly with olive oil. Fold sheet in half, from bottom to top, brush surface with oil. Cut sheet in half vertically. Place one piece over the other to form a cross shape. Place pastry cross, oiled side down into one of the muffin tin wells. Using fingertips, gently push the centre into the well. Fill pastry with meat. Gently bring overhanging pastry up over the filling and pinch close to the filling, leaving the excess pastry quite open above. Repeat with remaining pastry and filling.
11. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden and crispy all over. Remove pies from tin while still warm and serve immediately.
12. Serve with big crispy salad or simple green vegetables.

COOKS NOTES

• Use a 12-hole regular size muffin tin for this recipe.
• Replace lamb with beef if preferred.
• Use green beans, mushrooms and/or diced capsicum if liked. Play around with your favourite vegetable combination. Don’t use wet vegetables such as zucchini though.
• I recommend Antoniou Filo Pastry made in Australia with 99% Australian ingredients (it’s refrigerated NOT frozen, so is so much easier to work with). For Worcestershire Sauce I always use Lee and Perrins.
• Use filling to make a Shepherd's Pie with a cheesy mashed potato topping. Or make a large pie with shortcrust pastry.