Hot Water Crust Pies

Name: Hot Water Crust Pies
Yield: 4 pies
Ingredients: 1 1/2 Cups (192 grams) ll Purpose Flour; 1 Cup (128 grams) Bread Flour; 10.5 Tbsp (150 grams) Unsalted Butter; 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt; 2/3 Cup (160 ml) Water; 2 Butternut Squash (roasted, skin removed, chopped into small pieces); 1 pound (453 grams) Spicy Pork Sausage (ground breakfast sausage); 1 Cup Chopped Fresh Basil; 4 Cups (400 grams) Gruyere Cheese, shredded (more if needed); 1 Egg (lightly beaten with a fork); Sesame Seeds (for sprinkling)

Savory pies filled with meat and vegetables.

Hot Water Crust Pies have a thicker, sturdier pastry for holding layers of vegetables and meat. These savory pies were traditionally used for creating hand raised pies, that don’t require a dish. However, you can still layer a ramekin, or deep dish with hot water crust and then remove once baked. The goal is to have a free standing pie with a firm crust.

To make the sturdy hot water pastry crust you need hot water, a fat (butter, lard), and flour. Nothing to complicated, just a change in the elasticity and structure compared to cold short crust pastry. It is important to mold the dough while its still warm. To make this process a bit easier, I decided to make individual pies using ceramic ramekins. So, if this is all new to you, don’t worry its much easier than you think.

Since its autumn, I decided to go with warm hearty flavors of butternut squash, basil, and spicy pork sausage. Oh, and lots of gruyere cheese! These are filling little meat pies and two people can easily split one. If it gets cold and you feel like some comfort food, I suggest making a batch for breakfast, brunch, or dinner!

Tips for Hot Water Crust Pies

Roast your Butternut Squash first. Don’t over cook it, just enough to where its easy to slice into small chunks, not mushy.
While your squash is roasting in the oven, cook your spicy pork breakfast sausage in a skillet. Drain grease from sausage and transfer to a plate with a paper towel to absorb any excess liquid.
Set out fours ramekins, each with a 1-cup capacity.
I have not needed to grease my ramekins, but if you feel they will stick, just give a slight coating with lard, butter or oil. But, from my experience they are fine without it and slip out easily.
Weigh your flours and butter for exact measurements.
Knead hot water pastry until smooth and elastic, just a few times.
Roll pastry dough between two layers of parchment paper, to prevent sticking.
Lift and drop pastry slowly into ramekin.
Use your fingertips to press pastry into bottom and sides, making a smooth layer. Release any air trapped between pastry and ramekin.
Trim off over hanging pastry with scissors.
Make sure pastry is an even thickness by pressing and shaping with fingers. if you need to ‘paste’ extra pastry in certain places its easy to press it together.
Use trimming to reform into a ball and roll out into a circle for making the pie lid after filling is packed into the base.
Layer filling in base with cheese, squash, chopped basil, and pork sausage. Make sure to create a dome of filling at the top for wrapping lid across.
Brush egg on the lip of the base before adding the top pastry lid. The egg wash will help seal them together.
Cut a 1 inch ‘+’ in the center of the lid to release steam with a sharp knife.
Brush egg wash across entire lid and then sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Place all four ramekins on a baking tray.
Pies are baked when they have turned golden brown and when you tap on the lid sounds and feel firm.
Let pies cool for about 15 minutes before running a knife along the edge of where the ramekin and lid meet. Don’t cut off the lid. Invert the ramekin and let the pie slip out.
Serve warm.
Top with sliced roasted tomato and fresh basil if desired.
Store pies in the fridge in an air tight container for 4-5 days, warm before serving again.

Squash and sausage pie sliced with melted cheese.

5 from 1 vote