Spanish Meat Pies

I promise I am coming back to my Spanish adventures series, but first I am going to share my “Spanish adventures” from my own kitchen. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post Visiting With Andrea, one of the things we did while my dear friend Andrea was here was host a tapas and wine tasting party.

We eat tapas on a fairly regular basis anyway, but having just come back from Spain, tapas were a definite must. One of the tapas dishes I made were some Spanish meat pies. I had seen them in one of my cookbooks I just brought back from our trip, but I really made up my own recipe. That’s one of the main reasons I like cookbooks with pictures. The pictures inspire me, but I can figure out the rest out on my own.

My meat pies are featured on the two-tiered stand in the center. I was not the one taking pictures, and I thought I had a better picture of just the meat pies, but I do not, so you will just have to savor all the dishes a bit more. These were delicious and were also a huge hit. Surprisingly, they all disappeared very quickly too. 🙂

Spanish Meat Pies

I started off with my basic go-to dough. The Empanada Party – Part 1 – Beef Empanadas These meat pockets are basically empanadas, just in a different shape. I also used my mixed olive tapenade in the filling as well, but chopped mixed olives with a little lemon juice will work just fine too. Olive Tapenade I mixed the tapenade together with about 2 lbs of ground beef and about 1 lb of beef chorizo, along with 1-2 TBSP garlic, 1-2 tsp red pepper flakes, and 1 onion, diced fine. I also threw in about 3 TBSP of flour towards the end to help thicken the filling up a bit.

Cook everything together until everything is thoroughly cooked. Drain the excess grease and let cool until you are ready to fill the dough cups.

Preheat the oven to 375* F or 191*C.

Spray muffin tins with cooking spray.

After letting the dough set in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes or so, roll it out very thin and cut it into rounds, then press them into the prepared muffin tins.

Add about 2 TBSP of filling to each cup then top with another dough round. Press firmly into place and crimp with the edge of a fork. Slice a couple of slits on the top of each pie to allow the gases to escape while cooking.

After the pies were prepared, I wasn’t ready to bake them, so I let them set in the refrigerator overnight, and baked them right before our party, so they were hot and they were fresh. Whether you bake them right away or let them set for awhile, brush them with an egg wash before placing them in the oven to help them brown. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Let them set for about 5 minutes or so before eating and enjoying them, and enjoy them you will too. 🙂

Recipes are just guidelines, or suggestions. If you are comfortable creating your own versions, by all means, I highly recommend it. As I always say, play with your food and be creative.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.