For Your Pies Only

Welcome to Friday Pie Day! For Your Pies Only is growing up and growing up means more responsibility, more chores and getting to stay up past 8PM on the weekend. Each Friday we’ll be featuring a new pie for you loves. Enjoy!

I’ve tackled turkey, chicken, sausage and steak pies, but I had yet to make a pork pie. After several sweet pies on the blog, a savory pie is so refreshing (Though I know there are a lot of sweet teeth out there!). A Google search for “pork pie” returned lots of British pork pies filled with aspics and ‘trotters’. In other words, recipes using meat jello and pig’s feet…while I am sure they’re delicious, I am just not there yet.

I also recently made a trip to our local restaurant supply shop for the very first time. What a glorious place. Shelf after shelf of kitchen goodies; a cook’s wonderland. Among my purchases were lots of individual mini pie pans, perfect for some little piggy pies.

For us here in NY, spring has almost sprung, even though I am sure we are in for a bit more snow before the end of May (this IS Syracuse I am living in).  The weather is still chilly enough to make these pork pies cooked with beer, bacon, caramelized red onions and topped with cheese which are fairly hearty. They’re a contrast to what I hope my summer pies will be with fresh fruit and veg. Until then, snug in your Snuggies and fill your bellies with a beer and bacon pie treat.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. roast pork loin, cut into small pieces
• 6 oz. apple smoked bacon cooked, cut into small pieces
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 stalk of celery. finely chopped
• 1/3 cup beer (I chose a lager)
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp minced fresh sage
• 1 tbsp minced fresh parsley
• pinch grated nutmeg
• pinch allspice
• pinch black pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 red onions, finely sliced
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 cups grated sharp cheddar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place the roast pork, bacon, beer, Worcestershire, carrot, celery into a medium sized pan over medium-low heat. Let come to a slow boil and stir in sage, parsley, nutmeg, allspice, black pepper.

Divide the pork filling mixture among 4 individual greased mini pie pans (something like these) and bake in the oven for 50 minutes. Halfway through baking, cover the edges of your pies with aluminum foil to ensure the crust edge does not burn.

Meanwhile, for the balsamic onions, heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the onions for 2-3 minutes, or until softened.

Add the sugar and vinegar, stir and bring the mixture to the boil. Cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the onions are sticky.

Remove the pies from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Carefully remove the pies from the pans*, brush the sides with the beaten egg yolk and place onto a baking tray. Spoon the balsamic onions on top of the pies and sprinkle over the cheese.

Bake the pies for a further 5-6 minutes, or until the cheese is fully melted.

*Pie Tip: If the pies don’t release easily from the pan, run a butter knife around the edge. If it still does not release, the crust may not be fully baked, continue to bake for another 5-10 minutes