Cuban Meat Pies

My entire childhood, I grew up eating pastries from this Cuban bakery in Glendale called Porto’s. Whenever there was a party or special occasion or holiday my mom would pick up their potato balls and cuban meat pies to serve as appetizers. I already recreated the potato balls on my site and so I thought it was time to tackle the Cuban Meat Pies. They’re small super flaky savory pastries filled with seasoned ground beef, and they’re my absolute favorite thing on their menu. I’ve teamed up with my friends over at GO BOLD WITH BUTTER to show you how to make an easy rough puff pastry at a home—a much simpler version of the classic dough recipe—that you can make and fill with all sorts of different things. They’re great as an appetizer or snack and can be made ahead of time and kept in the freezer! 

We’re going to be making a rough puff pastry, which is a lot easier to make than traditional puff pastry. Don’t let the steps intimidate you, as it’s super easy. If you can make biscuits, scones or pie crust, then you’re all set! To make the rough pastry, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, wheat flour, salt, and sugar

**Note: It does go without saying, that you can skip all of this and just use store-bought puff pastry for this recipe if you’d like! It’ll still get the job done. But, if you have the time, why not try it?**

Add the cold diced unsalted butter and cut in with a pastry blender or your hands until large coarse crumbs form. They can be different sizes, you don’t need it to be uniform.

**Tip: Just make sure you work rather quick, if using your hands, as you don’t want to warm up the butter too much or else the puff pastry won’t be flaky. Cold butter = flakier pastry.**

Mix together the water and vinegar in a glass measuring cup, and pour about ¾ of the mixture into the bowl and mix with a rubber spatula. Add enough of the remaining water as needed to bring it all together into shaggy dough. It shouldn’t be too wet. Wrap well in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour.

On a floured work surface, roll out the chilled dough into a long rectangle about 1/4-inch thick. It doesn’t have to be precise or even perfectly rectangular. Again, this is a rough puff pastry, and so we want to make this as easy as possible.

Then fold into thirds like a letter. This is considered one “turn.” Rotate 90° and roll out once again. Fold into thirds and repeat once more for a total of three turns. 

**Note: Make sure to reflour your work surface as needed while working with the dough so that it doesn’t stick. This rolling out and folding process is what creates the layers in the puff pastry.**

Cut the dough in half and wrap each piece in plastic wrap, really well. Chill for at least 2 hours or overnight. The longer the dough stays in the fridge, the flakier it’ll be. Again, remember that we want to ensure the butter is as cold as possible.

To make the filling, place a large skillet over medium-high heat with the butter. Once melted, add the ground beef and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until browned, and no longer pink.

Stir in the onion, bell pepper and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the raisins and tomato paste and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the wine to deglaze and cook until the wine has almost completely evaporated. Season with oregano, salt, and pepper.

Remove from the heat, transfer to a bowl and stir in the capers and olives. Set aside to cool completely to room temperature.

**Note: You want to make sure the filling has completely cooled down before filling the meat pies so that the dough doesn’t get too warm. The filling can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge until ready to use.**

Working with half of the dough at a time, place onto a well-floured work surface and roll out to about ¼-inch thick. Using a 2-inch round biscuit cutter cut out as many circles as possible, placing them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in the fridge while you roll out the second half of dough.

Brush half of the pastry circles with egg wash and place about a tablespoon of filling in the center. Top with another pastry circle and press down the edges firmly to seal. You can also crimp with a fork. Once all are filled, place the baking sheets in the fridge or freezer to chill while you preheat the oven to 425°F.

**Tip: At this stage you can freeze the meat pies prebaked and then just thaw and bake off whenever you plan on serving them! It’ll save on time and it’s a great appetizer to keep on hand!**

Poke a hole in the center of each pie with either a sharp pairing knife or a wooden skewer. Brush with egg wash and bake until golden brown and flaky, about 18 to 20 minutes.

In the meantime, in a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water and bring to a simmer. Cook until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

As soon as the meat pies come out of the oven, brush them with the simple syrup. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

Whether you give these Cuban Meat Pies a try, or you want to create something entirely different with the rough puff pastry, I hope you’ll give it a try! You can make croissants with the dough or quiche or different tarts also! As for the filling, it would be great inside empanadas as well or filled in pie crust and made into hand pies!

**Thank you for your continued support of the occasional sponsored post on this site. They help keep the blog going, allowing me to continue to share my recipes with you on a weekly basis. I never want my sponsorships to feel forced, which is why I only partner with companies I feel very passionate about and actually use on a regular basis.**

Cuban Meat Pies

These Cuban Meat Pies are made with an easy homemade rough puff pastry and filled with seasoned beef. They're great to keep in the freezer all year long!

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Ingredients

Rough Puff Pastry:

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 ½ cups 3 sticks unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
• 1 cup cold water
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

Filling:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ½ pound ground sirloin
• ½ medium yellow onion finely chopped
• ½ green bell pepper finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 2 tablespoons raisins chopped
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• ¼ cup dry white wine or chicken or beef stock
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon capers
• 2 tablespoons pimiento green olives chopped
• 1 large egg whisked with a splash of water

Topping:

• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup water

Instructions

• To make the rough pastry, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, wheat flour, salt, and sugar. Add the cold butter and cut in with a pastry blender or your hands until large coarse crumbs form. Mix together the water and vinegar in a glass measuring cup, and pour about ¾ of the mixture into the bowl and mix with a rubber spatula. Add enough of the remaining water as needed to bring it all together into shaggy dough. It shouldn’t be too wet. Wrap well in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour.
• On a floured work surface, roll out the chilled dough into a long rectangle and then fold into thirds like a letter. This is considered one “turn.” Rotate 90° and roll out again. Fold into thirds and repeat once more for a total of three turns. Cut the dough in half and wrap each piece in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
• To make the filling, place a large skillet over medium-high heat with the butter. Once melted, add the ground beef and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until browned, and no longer pink. Stir in the onion, bell pepper and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the raisins and tomato paste and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the wine to deglaze and cook until the wine has almost completely evaporated. Season with oregano, salt, and pepper. Remove from the heat and stir in the capers and olives. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
• Working with half of the dough at a time, place onto a well-floured work surface and roll out to about ¼-inch thick. Using a 2-inch round biscuit cutter cut out as many circles as possible, placing them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in the fridge while you roll out the second half of dough.
• Brush half of the pastry circles with egg wash and place about a tablespoon of filling in the center. Top with another pastry circle and press down the edges firmly to seal. You can also crimp with a fork. Once all are filled, place the baking sheets in the fridge or freezer to chill while you preheat the oven to 425°F.
• Poke a hole in the center of each pie with either a sharp pairing knife or a wooden skewer. Brush with egg wash and bake until golden brown and flaky, about 18 to 20 minutes.
• In the meantime, in a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water and bring to a simmer. Cook until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool.
• As soon as the meat pies come out of the oven, brush them with the simple syrup. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

Author: The Candid Appetite