DOUGH
160g Butter, cold and cut into small pieces or
160ml Refined olive oil or a mix of both
500g All-purpose brown flour
2 tsp Salt
125ml Water
FILLING
500g Organic beef mince
1 Onion, minced
1 Onion, minced
1 Celery stick
2 Cloves of garlic
200 g Tinned chopped tomatoes
1 Carrot
1 Courgette
3tbsp Refined olive oil
¼tsp Sweet paprika
½ tsp Cumin
¼tsp Cinnamon
1 Beaten egg
Pastry: In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt & butter/oil. Rub with your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs. Then add ¾ of the water and mix well with a fork and then with your hands. Add more water if the dough looks dry. Knead for 10-15minutes until nice and elastic, so it doesn’t break when you pull it away from you. Put in a clean bowl, cover with a tea towel and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Filling: Heat 2 tbsp oil in a deep saucepan and brown the meat in batches to avoid the oil cooling and the meat stewing. Remove to a bowl.
Wash all the veggies. Peel the carrots. Chop onions, carrots, courgette and celery quite small. You can do this in a food processor. Mince the garlic.
Heat the rest of the oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Add the veggies and garlic. Cook gently for 5 min until soft. Add the chopped tomatoes (not the juice) and the browned meat and cook uncovered for 20-25 minutes until the sauce has thickened.
Preheat your oven to 180C. While the sauce is simmering, divide the dough into 10 golf ball sized pieces. Flatten them on a floured surface with a rolling pin turning the dough around a quarter every time you flatten it to keep it as close to a circular shape as possible.
Once all your dough balls are flattened and the filling cool. Add a tablespoon of filling to one side of the dough, wet the edge of the dough with a little water and fold the top half down. Crimple or press the edge with a fork to seal the pie. Paint with the beaten egg and bake for 20minutes until golden brown.
Variation: substitute red kidney beans for mince. Just add the beans after the tomato and veggie sauce has been cooking for about 10minutes. You can also add a little grated cheese.
Carrots contain VITAMIN C that supports the immune system and β CAROTENE a powerful antioxidant. Our bodies can produce VITAMIN A from β CAROTENE to support vision.
Onions contain fibre to help intestinal transit and prebiotics which feed the beneficial bacterial in your gut.
Complex carbohydrates like those in brown flour help maintain our energy levels stable as energy from these foods is released slowly refined carbohydrates need higher levels of insulin which can lead to cells becoming less sensitive to insulin and preventing glucose transport into the cells resulting in high blood sugar levels and, potentially, type 2 diabetes.
Red meat is high in PROTEIN necessary for growth and tissue repair as well as IRON needed to produced energy. Red meat also contains SATURATED FAT which has been linked to cardiovascular disease so consume in moderation and whenever possible choose
leaner cuts.