This puff pastry wrapped Pork Pot Pie, elevated with chestnuts, butternut squash, smoked elements and passion fruit drippings, brings out the best in pork!
Pot Pie
Having indulged in a shopping spree at Borough’s Market in London (crazy fun), I have a front row seat view as to what Pub Pies, Pork Pies are all about!
Fabulous buttery pastry, wrapped around a gazillion scrumptious savory ingredients and baked to perfection.
Pork pies seemed to be the most popular, even though England is a country with lots of sheep, I was intrigued to try my hand at making a pork pie when I returned home.
Other Meat Pot Pie Recipes
While most pot pies are wrapped in a pastry, like this London Beef Pie recipe, here in America we too have our favorite pot pie recipes.
A Biscuit Turkey Pot Pie, covered with homemade biscuits, is a favorite way to remake leftovers from a roasted turkey!
A Man’s Pork Pie
While most American guys may look at a savory pie as dainty, delicate and not really for them, I set out to change that thinking!
Experimenting with everyday food, is something I find the greatest pleasure in doing. Butternut squash, pork, a buttery pastry to seal in some rather exotic flavors of heat and sweet, and a few surprises.
I added chestnuts and sage because they felt more European than an American meat pie. T
his is a hearty dish with exotic flavors, and as my guest taster stated, “This is a MAN’S pie”!
Savory Pork Pot Pies
Making pub pies, or any dish encased in a pastry may seem like a lot of work, but if you approach it through separated preparations, and use a store bought puff pastry crust, you can whip this dish up in no time.
You are sure to present your friends and family with something very sophisticated looking.
So let’s approach this from four different (fast and easy) steps, and then put it all together, pop it in the oven, and sit back and listen to all the compliments! Can also be assembled a day before and baked when needed.
4-Quick Steps
- Filling – Prepare the filling
- Meat – Cook the meat separate and add to filling
- Sauce – Prepare a sauce to add to filling and bind it
- Pastry – Roll out the crust for topping, and bake
Ingredients Needed
- Butternut squash
- Onions
- Coconut oil or butter
- Chestnuts or walnuts
- Honey
- Sage
- Smoked paprika
- Smoked salt
- Ground pork
- Garlic
- Hot sauce
- Wine, red or white
- Kale
- Flour
- Pineapple or Passionfruit juice
- Puff pastry
- Egg
Equipment Needed
- Individual baking dishes
- Cutting board
- Chopping knife
- Vegetable peeler
- Saute pan
- Pastry cutter
- Rolling pin
- Garlic press
- Slotted spoon
- Baking sheet pan
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Oven
Pork Pot Pie
Ingredients
- Butternut squash – 2 cups cubed
- Onions – 1 ½ chopped
- Coconut oil (or butter) – 2 tbsp
- Chestnuts – (or walnuts) ½ cup rough chopped
- Honey – 2 tbsp
- Sage – Fresh, ½ cup rough chopped
- – 2 tsp
- Smoked Salt (regular is fine) – 1 tsp
- Ground Pork – 2 pounds
- Garlic – 2 cloves, crushed
- Hot Sauce – 1 tbsp
- Wine – red or white, 1 cup
- Kale – 3 cups rough chopped
- Flour – 2 tbsp
- Coconut oil (or butter) – 2 tbsp
- Smoked Salt – ½ tsp
- Hot sauce – 1 tsp
- Fruit Juice – 1 cup, (pineapple, passion fruit or orange)
- Water to adjust sauce – about 1/2 cup
- Puff Pastry Package
- Flour for dusting
- Egg wash – 1 egg and 1 tsp water, whisked
- Course Salt
Instructions
- Filling
- Caramelize onions in coconut oil. Add squash and remaining ingredients, cover, and cook until soft, but not mushy.
- Meat
- In a separate pan, cook the meat, stirring and breaking apart until pink is gone. Drain off fat. Add garlic and hot sauce and stir. Set aside for a moment.
- Remove cooked squash mixture from its pan. Deglaze those yummy bits from the pan with wine, stirring and scraping the pan to enfold its flavors into the wine.
- Add the cooked meat, stir. Add the squash mixture on top of meat. Lay kale on top of squash and place lid on quickly. Let the kale steam for about 5 minutes. Remove lid and gently fold ingredients together, being careful not to mash squash. (This step can be done in advance, or even a day before and refrigerate until ready to complete the dish.)
- Sauce
- In a small saucepan, make a roux from the oil and flour, stirring quickly as they come together into a paste, add juice and stir quickly. Add salt and hot sauce, stirring. Add water a little at a time, all the while stirring on top the stove to make the consistency of a gravy. Add sauce to meat and squash mixture, gently folding it into the mixture.
- At this point you can prep the four baking dishes (16 oz. each), or one dish if you plan to make one large, by placing the filling in the baking dish/dishes.
- Pastry
- Roll out pastry on a floured surface. Using a bowl the same size as the baking dishes, press 4 circles. (Tip: I tend to use parchment paper to roll the dough onto, and then cut the paper under the circles. It makes for an easy step with placing the pastry on top for baking)
- Place each pastry circle on top of the prepared baking dish/dishes.
- Mix egg wash. Baste wash on top of pastry (for a golden finish). Sprinkle a little course salt on top pastry.
- Bake: 350 preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes, until top is golden.
Nutrition
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.
