Culture

There may or may not be an embarrassing video on the Internet about me making pies. You could say I am somewhat of a bacon and egg pie expert.

Last year, I frequently made and delivered these beauties to my favourite Critic employees, Sam, Alex and Dan, for their lunches. I did tend to get some odd looks as I walked down George Street holding boxes of hot and delicious smelling pies.
These make great picnic date food (my brother can vouch for that), a good substantial party food or even a quick and easy dinner option. Make the most of the remaining good weather and pack a batch of these up, take them outside and munch down on them whilst sitting on your favourite moth-eaten blanket from St Vincent de Paul’s.

All you need is a few sheets of flaky puff pastry, eggs, bacon and a couple of onions. Feel free to add greenery in the form of parsley or peas if you so wish. I like to use Texan muffin pans for these (find them in the baking section of New World) as it makes a nice substantial pie. You can use normal muffin tins but you will have to cut the pastry a little smaller and you get less filling in them.

I tend to only eat two of these things but the boys seem to be able to nail at least three when I make them. It’s really easy to make more or less depending on the number of mouths you have to feed.

Ingredients

Serves 4 (three pies each.)

• 3 sheets pre-rolled flaky puff pastry, cut into four squares


• 16-18 eggs


• 8 pieces of shoulder bacon


• 3 onions, sliced into thin wedges


• 1⁄2 cup frozen peas (optional)


• Chopped parsley (optional)


• Salt and pepper to taste


• Cooking spray for the tray


• Texan muffin pan

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.


2. Spray your Texan muffin pan with the cooking spray. Lay the pastry sheets out to defrost to the point they are malleable (DO NOT MICROWAVE).


3. Sauté the onion wedges until translucent. Put to one side. Pan fry the bacon and, once cooked to your liking, chop up into pieces.


4. Generously spray the insides of each muffin pan well with cooking spray. Once the pastry has defrosted, gently press each square into a well of the muffin pan. You will get a triangular edge poking out but that is ok. Make sure it is well fitted into the bottom.


5. Sprinkle the bacon pieces and onion evenly across the pies. Do the same with the frozen peas and parsley if using.


6. Gently crack two eggs into each pie. Don’t worry if they slightly overflow. Season with salt and pepper.


7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the egg is firm when gently pressed. Pop out of the tins with a butter knife.


8. Repeat the pie production until you have all the pies you need.


9. Serve with a good dollop of good old tomato sauce!