Meat Pie in Puff Pastry with Crushed Garlic and Egg White

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Wrapping Dough

1. 1
   Thaw the puff pastry in the fridge overnight, until pliable but still cold.

   Refrigerator

   💡Work with store-bought dough while it's cold: warm puff pastry gets sticky and won't puff in the oven, and phyllo sheets dry out fast, so keep the waiting sheets covered with a damp towel.

For the Pastry Filling

1. 2
   Heat the oil in a wide pan over medium heat.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStoveFrying pan
2. 3
   Add the onion and fry for 8–10 minutes, stirring, until the onion is soft and deep golden.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 4
   Add the garlic and fry about 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.
4. 5
   Raise the heat to medium-high and add the meat. Press it flat over the bottom and leave it for 2–3 minutes without stirring, until a brown crust forms.

   Stove

   💡Brown ground beef in the pot without pressing it: leave it as one 'cake' for a few minutes until a brown crust forms, then break it into chunks. Deep browning = deep flavor.
5. 6
   Break it up with a wooden spoon and fry for 5–7 more minutes, stirring, until no pink is left and the meat browns.

   StoveWooden spoon
6. 7
   Season with salt and black pepper.
7. 8
   Remove from the heat and cool the filling completely, about half an hour.

   💡Fill dough only with completely cooled filling: a hot filling softens the dough, makes it hard to seal and makes the pastry soggy inside.
8. 9
   Stir in the egg.
9. 10
   Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F). Lay half the dough in the pan, sides included. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork.

   ⚙ Preheating the OvenOvenBaking pan

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
10. 11
    Fill with the cooled filling and smooth the top.
11. 12
    Cover with the rest of the dough, press the edges together, and poke a few small holes for steam. Score the top of the dough with a knife.

    💡Press the edges of the top crust firmly onto the edges of the bottom crust, and the holes in the top let steam escape: that way the top doesn't puff up and the filling doesn't bubble out.
12. 13
    Bake 35 minutes, until the pie is golden.

    ⚙ BakingOvenBaking pan

    💡Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.