Filo Pastry Mince Pies
Makes 12 mince pies
Ingredients (for the mince meat)
- 3 Granny Smiths (or other tart eating apples), peeled, cored and cut into 1cm / ½” chunks
- 1 ripe pear, peeled, cored and cut into 1cm / ½” chunks
- 100g / 3½oz raisins
- 100ml / 3½fl oz apple juice
- 75g / 2¾oz dried cranberries
- 50g / 1¾oz pecan nuts finely chopped
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- Pinch ground cloves
- Big pinch freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
- 1 orange, zest only, finely grated
- 1cm / ½in piece fresh ginger, very finely chopped
- A few twists cracked black pepper
- 3 tbsp cider, calvados, rum or brandy (optional)
Ingredients (for the pies)
- Vegetable oil, in a spray bottle
- 12 sheets filo pastry
- 1 egg, lightly beaten (alternatively use a little melted butter or vegetable oil)
- Icing sugar for dusting
Method
- Preheat the oven to 1800C / 1600C(fan) / 3500F / Gas 4.
- Place a baking tray into the oven to heat up – this helps to stop your pies having a soggy base!
- Grease a 12-hole muffin tin with a little spray oil and set aside.
- Put all the mincemeat ingredients into a saucepan over a medium heat and allow to cook gently, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes or until the apples begin to soften.
- Remove from the heat and leave the mixture to infuse while you make the pies.
- Lay the sheets of filo pastry out on top of each other and cut them in stacks to make 12cm / 4½” squares of filo. Keep any filo not being worked on under a damp tea towel so that it doesn’t dry out.
- Line each hole of the muffin tin with three squares of filo. Take a square at a time and press it into the hole, each one slightly turned so the pastry case edges look like a star. Make sure to push the pastry down so it goes right down to the bottom and sides of each muffin hole.
- After lining the tin, you should be left with 12 squares of filo – reserve these under a damp tea towel for now.
- Spray each stack in the tin with a little oil and bake in the oven for five minutes until crisp and pale golden. Then divide the filling evenly among the cases.
- Take the remaining squares of filo, scrunch each one up lightly and place one on top of each pie so that it looks like a scrunched-up tissue. Brush them lightly with beaten egg or melted butter.
- Place in the oven on top of the heated baking sheet for 8-10 minutes or until the pies are crisp and golden.
- Once ready, remove the pies from the oven and dust with a little icing sugar!
Enjoy!
In season at this time of year;
Vegetables; Beetroot, Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, Celeriac, Celery, Chicory, Jerusalem Artichokes, Kale, Leeks, Parsnips, Potatoes, Pumpkins, Red Cabbage, Sweed, Turnips
Fruit & Nuts; Apples (Egremont, Russet, Blenheim Orange, Orleans Reinette), Chestnuts, Clementines, Cranberries, Pears, Satsumas, Tangerines
Meat: Duck, Goose, Grouse, Guinea Fowl, Hare, Partridge, Pheasant, Rabbit, Venison, Wood Pigeon
Fish & Seafood: Brill, Clams, Haddock, Halibut, Hake, John Dory, Lemon Sole, Monkfish, Mussels, Oysters (Native & Rock), Plaice, Scallops, Sea Bass, Turbot
Suzanne is a professional chef, wife and mother who has lived in East Dulwich all her life!
You can email Suzanne with any comments or questions at info@suzannejames.co.uk
This article first appeared in the December 2018 issue of SE22 magazine.