Hot Water Crust Pies
Hot Water Crust Pies filled with gruyere cheese, butternut squash, basil, and spicy pork sausage. Savory pies filled with meat, vegetables, and cheese.
Servings 4 pies
Ingredients
Hot Water Crust
- 1 ½ Cups (192 grams) ll Purpose Flour
- 1 Cup (128 grams) Bread Flour
- 10.5 Tbsp (150 grams) Unsalted Butter
- ½ tsp Kosher Salt
- ⅔ Cup (160 ml) Water
Filling
- 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
Egg Wash
- 1 Egg lightly beaten with a fork
Topping
- Sesame Seeds for sprinkling
Instructions
Cook Fillings
- Roast Butternut Squash, by slicing squashes in half lengthwise. Scrape out seeds, lightly coat flesh with olive oil and place on baking sheet.
- Bake at 400 F (200 C) for about 20 minutes until flesh is tender. Remove from oven.
- Let squash cool for about 15 minutes. Cut flesh away from skin and then cut into small cubes. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a medium skillet on medium-high heat, cook pork sausage until brown. Drain grease and set aside.
Hot Water Crust Pastry
- Place ramekin top side down on a piece of parchment paper, draw a circle around with a pen around the ramekin. Cut out the circle and save for later to measure pastry lid.
- Whisk together measured and sifted flour in a medium bowl.
- In a medium saucepan, bring butter and water to high heat and boil.
- Remove pan from heat, add flours and salt and stir with wooden spoon or rubber spatula until a dough forms. You may need to press dough against the sides to pack it together.
- Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead with hands until smooth and elastic (3-4 times). Dough will be HOT, so use plastic gloves or knead then release and continue.
- Weigh you dough ball and divide into four equal pieces.
- Place a piece of parchment paper down onto work surface.
- Take one dough ball and flatten into a oval with hands, then lay an additional piece of parchment paper on top.
- Roll dough between the two pieces of paper into a circle, with a rolling pin until it reaches 3mm in thickness or ⅛ inch.
- Remove circle of dough from paper and gently drop into a ramekin.
- Using finger gently press dough into bottom and then against the sides. Trim off overhang. And smooth the edges, forming a small lip around the top of the ramekin. Make sure there are no holes in the pastry. If so, its easy to take a scrap piece and patch by pressing together with fingers.
- Take trimmings and from back into ball set aside.
- Repeat this process with the remaining three ramekins.
Fill Pastry
- Layer the pastry molds, gently pressing each layer to pack and fill in any gaps.
- Start with a layer of gruyere, then chunks of butternut squash, basil, gruyere, sausage, gruyere, and another layer of butternut squash.
- Make sure the top layer of butternut squash is taller than the rim of the ramekin forming a dome. then sprinkle with extra gruyere cheese.
- Paint a think coating of egg wash on the lip of pastry that is exposed around the rim of the ramekin.
- Roll out one of the ball of trimmings between parchment paper into the size of the paper circle cut out from earlier.
- Place this pastry circle on top of your filling to create a lid and let the egg wash help seal it to the bottom pastry.
- Cut two slits in the top of the pastry lid. Brush with egg wash, and sprinkle a nice coating of sesame seeds.
Bake Savory Pies
- Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C) and bake pies for 10 minutes. Lower temperature to 375 F (190 C) and bake for an additional 40-50 minutes.
- Bake pies until crust is golden brown and firm. You will see steam coming from the slit in the pies.
- If you tap in the lid and it feel soft, not crispy firm, bake for an additional 10 minutes.
- Place ramekins on cooling rack for 15 minutes before removing pies from dishes.
- Take a sharp knife and go around edge of pastry where it connects to ramekin. Invert ramekin slightly to loosen pie, then slide pie out carefully.
- Top with sliced roasted tomato and fresh basil if desired.
- Serve pies warm.