Guests will love these individual pies with a mellow curried filling. Be as creative as you like with the decoration, we’ve gone with pastry crowns, or keep them plain, if pushed for time.
Step 1Make the filling. Melt the butter in a medium pan over low heat and fry the onion for 8-10min, until softened. Stir in the curry powder and tomato purée; cook for 1min. Remove from heat and stir in remaining filling ingredients and some seasoning. Set aside to cool.
Step 2Unroll the pastry sheets and stamp out 8 x 10cm circles and 8 x 7.5cm circles, re-rolling trimmings as needed. Lightly grease 8 holes of a (3.5cm) deep muffin tin, and press the larger circles into the holes, working the pastry so that it comes just above the edges of the holes.
Step 3Spoon in and level the cooled filling, packing it down tightly to get rid of any air pockets. Brush the visible pastry edges lightly with beaten egg, then lay on the lids, pressing the edges firmly to seal. Use a teaspoon handle or cutlery knife to lift the pastry edges so they are vertical again, this will make the pies easier to remove from the tin later.
Step 4If you like, reroll any trimmings and use to decorate pies. Light brush lids with egg and decorate with almonds and/or nigella seeds, if using. Use a skewer to pierce a hole in the centre of each lid to allow steam to escape. Chill for 20min, to firm up. Preheat oven to 220°C (200°C fan) mark 7.
Step 5 Cook pies for 20-25min, or until pastry is crisp and deep golden brown all over. Leave to cool in tin for 5min, before carefully transferring (use a cutlery knife to loosen edges first, if necessary) to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
GET AHEAD
Make up to 2 days ahead; cool, pack into an airtight container and chill. To serve, allow to come to room temperature.
GH TIPS
• If you can’t find shortcrust pastry sheets, use a 500g block and roll out on a lightly floured surface to 3mm thick.
• Allow pastry to soften at room temperature for 20min before using, to help prevent cracking.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
