Plate 06 of 10

Belizean Meat Pies

Name: Belizean Meat Pies
Prep time: 55 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 12 pies
Cuisine: Belize
Ingredients: 500 g All-purpose flour; 6 g Fine salt; 250 g Shortening, cold, in small pieces; 180 ml Iced water; 1 Egg, beaten, for the wash; 15 ml Neutral oil; 600 g Ground beef; 1 medium Onion, finely chopped; 1 Sweet pepper, finely chopped; 2 medium Tomatoes, finely chopped; 2 Tbsp Recado rojo paste; 250 ml Beef stock; 6 g Fine salt; 2 g Black pepper

The bakery pie of Belize City, sold by the tray from six in the morning. A flaky shortening crust chilled and rolled, filled with ground beef browned with onion and sweet pepper and simmered with tomato, recado rojo and stock until saucy but not wet, then lidded, vented and baked at 200 °C until deep gold and 71 °C inside. Rested ten minutes so the gravy sets.

Prep: 55 min
Cook: 35 min
Serves: 12 pies
Difficulty: Hard

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

Twelve small round meat pies with crimped edges and a vent hole on a baking tray, one cut open to show the minced beef filling.

Every bakery in Belize City sells meat pies, and every Belizean has an opinion on whose are best. They are small, round and eaten from a paper bag, a flaky shortening crust around a filling of finely minced beef cooked with onion, sweet pepper, tomato and recado rojo until it is saucy enough to be juicy and dry enough to hold.

They come out of the ovens before dawn and are gone by mid-morning. The habanero sauce goes in through the hole in the lid.

Ingredients

Pastry
500 gAll-purpose flour
6 gFine salt
250 gShortening, cold, in small pieces
180 mlIced water
1Egg, beaten, for the wash
Filling
15 mlNeutral oil
600 gGround beef
1 mediumOnion, finely chopped
1Sweet pepper, finely chopped
2 mediumTomatoes, finely chopped
2 TbspRecado rojo paste
250 mlBeef stock
6 gFine salt
2 gBlack pepper

Cold fat, cold water

Shortening rubbed into flour in pea-sized pieces melts in the oven and leaves layers of air behind. Warm fat blends in and gives a hard crust. Chill everything, including the bowl on a hot day.

Saucy, not wet

The filling needs enough gravy to be juicy after baking and not so much that it soaks the base. Cook it down until a spoon dragged through leaves a trail that fills slowly, then cool it completely before it touches raw pastry.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt is in both crust and filling. Fat is the shortening and the beef. Acid is tomato and the recado's vinegar. Heat is black pepper and the pepper sauce most people add. Umami is browned beef and stock.

Equipment

Large bowl and a pastry blender or two knives
Rolling pin and a 12 cm round cutter
12 pie tins, 9 cm across, or a 12-hole muffin tin
Skillet, for the filling
Instant-read thermometer

Individual tins give the straight sides and crimped lid of the bakery pie. A muffin tin works, with slightly deeper pies.

Method

Make the pastry10 min
Whisk the flour and salt. Cut in the cold shortening until the largest pieces are the size of peas. Sprinkle in the iced water a little at a time, tossing with a fork, and stop as soon as the dough holds when squeezed. Gather into two discs, wrap, and chill 30 minutes.
Mix flour and salt. Cut in cold shortening to pea-sized pieces. Gradually add iced water with a fork, stopping when dough holds together when squeezed. Shape two discs, wrap and chill 30 minutes.
Brown the beef10 min
Heat the oil in the skillet over medium-high. Cook the beef, breaking it up, until it browns and its liquid has evaporated, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the onion and sweet pepper and cook 3 minutes.
Heat the oil in the skillet over medium-high. Cook the beef, breaking it up, until it browns and its liquid has evaporated, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the onion and sweet pepper and cook 3 minutes.
Simmer the filling20 min
Add the tomatoes, recado, stock, salt and pepper. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes, stirring now and then, until the filling is thick and saucy with no free liquid. Spread on a plate and cool completely, 30 minutes in the fridge.
Add the tomatoes, recado, stock, salt and pepper. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes, stirring now and then, until the filling is thick and saucy with no free liquid. Spread on a plate and cool completely, 30 minutes in the fridge.
Line and fill20 min
Heat the oven to 200 °C. Roll one disc 3 mm thick and cut 12 rounds of 12 cm; press them into the tins. Roll the second disc and cut 12 lids of 9 cm. Spoon 3 heaped tablespoons of cold filling into each base.
Heat the oven to 200 °C. Roll one disc 3 mm thick and cut 12 rounds of 12 cm; press them into the tins. Roll the second disc and cut 12 lids of 9 cm. Spoon 3 heaped tablespoons of cold filling into each base.
Seal and vent8 min
Brush the rims with egg, set on the lids, and press the edges together with a fork. Cut a small hole in the centre of each lid and brush the tops with the rest of the egg.
Brush the rims with egg, set on the lids, and press the edges together with a fork. Cut a small hole in the centre of each lid and brush the tops with the rest of the egg.
Bake30 min
Bake 25 to 30 minutes until the pastry is deep gold and the filling reads 71 °C through the vent. Rest in the tins 10 minutes so the gravy settles, then lift out.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes until the pastry is deep gold and the filling reads 71 °C through the vent. Rest in the tins 10 minutes so the gravy settles, then lift out.
07
Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: a glossy, deep gold lid with a darker fork-crimped rim, and a bead of gravy at the vent.
- Auditory: a faint bubbling through the vent hole in the last minutes.
- Olfactory: browned pastry, beef and annatto.
Look for a glossy, deep gold lid with a darker fork-crimped rim and a bead of gravy at the vent. Listen for faint bubbling through the vent in the last minutes; smell browned pastry, beef and annatto.

Storing it

Baked pies keep 3 days refrigerated and reheat at 180 °C for 12 minutes, to 74 °C inside. Unbaked, filled pies freeze for 2 months and bake from frozen with 10 extra minutes.

Troubleshooting

Soggy bottoms.: Hot or wet filling went into the pastry. Cool it completely and cook it drier next time.
Tough, hard crust.: The fat blended in, or the dough was overworked. Pea-sized pieces of cold shortening, and stop mixing the moment it holds.
Lids blew open.: No vent, or the rim was not sealed. A hole in every lid and a firm fork crimp.

Substitutions

One-to-one swaps, with the technique change each one needs.

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
Shortening	Cold butter, or half butter and half lard	Better flavour, less flake; work faster, it softens sooner
Ground beef	Ground pork, or half beef and half pork	Richer and softer; drain the fat after browning
Recado rojo	2 tsp sweet paprika, 1 tsp cumin and 1 tsp vinegar	Colour and warmth without the annatto's earthiness

Scaling

Half

Six pies from one disc of pastry rolled and re-rolled once.

Double

Make the pastry in two batches so the fat stays cold, and bake in two rounds of 12.

What to serve it with

Habanero pepper sauce, spooned into the vent
A cold soft drink, the bakery way
Sliced onion in vinegar on the side

Questions

Why is the filling so finely minced?

Belizean bakery pies are eaten from the hand, often on the move. A fine, saucy mince holds together and does not fall out.

Can I make them larger?

Yes, in 12 cm tins with 12 minutes more in the oven. The small size is the classic.

Can I use ready-made pastry?

Shortcrust works. Puff pastry does not: it rises off the filling and leaves a hollow.