Jamaican Patty: Spice & Herb Meat Filling Wrapped in a Buttery & Flaky Turmeric Crust
Mini dough encrusted meat or veggie pies are the ultimate street food or appetizer. This recipe contains the most common spices and herbs found in Jamaican cuisine. You get the Caribbean heat from the spicy, seasoned meat and golden, flaky pie crust from the turmeric and mix of butter and shortening. Now that’s a savory pie worth making!
Servings: 24 mini patties
Ingredients
Pie Dough:
- 480 g (4 cups) all-purpose flour fluffed, scooped, & leveled off if using measuring cup
- 1½ tsp (12 g) salt
- 2 tsp (8 g) turmeric
- 4 oz (8 tbsp) cold butter
- 4 oz (8 tbsp) cold shortening place in fridge overnight or for at least 30 min. before beginning recipe
- ⅔- ¾ cup ICE cold water place ice & water in a measuring glass before beginning recipe
- 1 egg to brush over the dough
Meat Filling:
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 medium onion small dice
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger minced
- 1 lb ground beef or ground turkey, chicken, lamb, etc.
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme chopped (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
- 1 scotch bonnet chili pepper or habanero seeded and finely chopped (opt.)
- 4 scallions white and green parts chopped
- ¼ cup fresh Italian parsley chopped (or 1 tsp dried parsley)
- ½ cup beef broth chicken or veggie broth/stock or water
- 1 tsp salt add 1½ tsp if using water in place of broth/stock
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ -½ tsp ground cayenne pepper based on heat preference
Instructions
Prepare Pie Dough:
- Dice the butter and keep it in the refrigerator. Add shortening to fridge. Add ice and at least 1 cup of water to a measuring glass and place it in the fridge.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, and turmeric. Use a pastry blender (cutter) to cut in the diced butter and shortening until the mixture resembles small peas or coarse cornmeal. You could use a food processor or rub the fat between your fingers.TIP: Avoid touching the dough as the heat from your hands could warm up the butter and shortening potentially limiting the flakiness as it bakes.
- Slowly pour in water beginning with ⅔ cup. Use a fork to toss the dry and wet ingredients together. Push the mixture against the side of the bowl to ensure the water moistens the ingredients. Continue adding water a tablespoon at a time until all the mixture is just moistened.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and divide it in half. Wrap each half loosely in plastic wrap. Shape each dough into a disk and place them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Cook Meat Filling:
- In a large (12-inch) skillet, add oil and butter and heat on medium heat until the butter has melted and is sizzling. Add diced onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.TIP: Use 2 tbsp of either butter or oil depending on what you have. If using oil only, the oil is hot enough when a piece of diced onion is placed in the pan and the oil sizzles around it.
- Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add ground beef, curry, cumin, allspice, thyme, and hot chili pepper, if using. Break up the meat and mix all ingredients together. Cook for about 10 minutes until the beef has browned and the spices are fragrant.
- Add scallions, parsley, and broth or water, salt, and both peppers. When the mixture begins to boil, decrease the heat and simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes until the meat mixture has thickened. Taste mixture and add more seasoning as desired. Set aside to cool before filling the pie dough.
Shape Pie Dough & Assemble
- Preheat oven to 375˚F (190˚C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Beat the egg into a small bowl. Set aside.
- Remove one dough half from the fridge. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a ⅛-inch thick circle. Cut out rounds using a wide-mouth drinking glass or round bowl that measures 4-6 inches in diameter. You may also want to roll out each dough round even more once cut out to ensure a thin round.
- Spoon 1½ -2 tbsp of meat mixture onto one-half of each circle leaving ½ -inch space from the edge. Brush the circle edges with the egg. Fold the other half over so the edges meet creating a half moon. Use fork tines dipped in flour to crimp and seal the dough edges.
- Place each filled pastry ½-inch apart on the parchment-lined baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap (to keep from drying out) until the baking sheet is full and ready to bake. Lightly brush the tops of each pastry with the beaten egg. (While half of the pastries are baking, repeat above steps with the other half of the dough and meat mixture making the remaining half of the recipe.)
- Bake each pan for 30 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Storing:
-Store the pies in the fridge for up to 3 days.
-For longer storage, freeze the fully baked mini pies. After baking and fully cooled, place them individually on a baking sheet and freeze for a couple of hours. Then, place them in a freezer bag or wrap in foil and freeze for up to a couple of months. When ready to consume, thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat in a 325°F oven for 20 minutes or until heated through.
Optional Substitutions (Make this Vegetarian or Gluten Free):
-Consider using a different meat. Pretty much any ground meat would work in this recipe. You can use ground turkey, chicken, pork (sausage), lamb, etc.
-Consider making this vegetarian. You could use 8 oz of diced mushrooms and 1 diced zucchini in place of the ground meat. Use any preferred veggie combination to equal 1 pound (equal meat replacement).
-If you aren’t interested in making the pie dough, this meat mixture makes a great loose meat sandwich with cheese. You can also serve the meat by itself over your favorite rice sans pie dough. It's great with coconut rice!