Chanterelle Hand Pies
Now that you’ve had a few days to recover from Thanksgiving, and your leftovers have probably run their course, I’m here to present you with more food! After all, that’s what I do best š
I’m sort of, kind of, totally obsessed with hand pies. A flaky, tender, stuffed pie that is portable and handheld?! I’ll take 5. I’m especially enchanted by savory pies. The idea that something encased in pastry can be acceptably eaten as a meal is just the bee’s knees. Do you agree?
I’ve actually posted a hand pie recipe on this blog before. You may or may not recall these Chicken Hand Pies I made a couple of years ago. They were ridiculously tasty and incredibly adorable but, because I made the dough from scratch, they took a bit of time to come together. These pies, however, use pre-made puff pastry. How easy is that? Additionally, the filling has few ingredients, and comes together really quickly.
Let’s talk about that filling for a second. What’s so special about chanterelles? Why are they so unlike any other mushroom? It’s their unique flavor. They are earthy, like most mushrooms, but they also have sweet, fruity notes. You can bring out the best of these mushrooms by cooking them in some sort of fat. Here we use both butter and cream, and pair them with a little bacon so that they truly shine.
There is nothing better than biting into a tender and flakey crust that’s filled with a sumptuous filling. This filling may be better than most, though, with maple-y bacon bits, nutty gruyere cheese, and creamy, sautĆ©ed chanterelles. These hand pies make a perfect autumn supper served with a piping hot bowl of soup.
I’d like to go ahead and apologize for the process photos below. You see, lately I’ve been taking a lot of the photos myself, and I didn’t realize until most of the way through that the exposure was far, far too low. This is why Mikey usually takes the photos since he actually knows what he’s doing :X. I still included them because I thought it’d be nice to (kind of) see what I did.
Ingredients
- 1 Ā½ tbsp unsalted butter
- 5-7 oz. chanterelles
- 2 cloves garlic
- Ā¼ cup white wine
- 1/3 cup cream
- 1-2 tsp fresh thyme
- pinch of allspice
- salt and pepper
- 2 slices thick-cut maple bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 3 oz. gruyere
- 1 package puff pastry dough (2 sheets at about 1 lb), thawed
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/3 cup cream
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a sautƩ pan over medium-high heat. Add in the chanterelles and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes, until tender. Add in the garlic and cook for a couple more minutes.
- Add in the wine and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil and cook until liquid is cooked away.
- Reduce heat to medium and stir in the cream, thyme, and allspice. Simmer until liquid reduces by half. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Allow filling to cool (you can cover and refrigerate the filling for 2-3 hours).
to assemble:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a couple baking sheets with silicone baking mats and set aside.
- Roll each sheet of pastry out just a bit. Cut each sheet into 4 equal pieces (I made 4 squares that I folded into triangles, and 4 that I folded into squares).
- Place a spoonful of chanterelle filling into a bit offset of the middle of each pastry piece. Top with a sprinkle of bacon and a sprinkle of cheese. Fold one half of the dough over and seal. Press the edges with the tines of a fork. Place the hand pies on the prepared baking sheets.
- Whisk together the egg yolk and cream and brush onto the tops of each pie. Slice 3 vents into the top of each.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden and baked through. Serve warm. You can reheat cold refrigerated, cooked pies at 350 degrees for 12-18 minutes.
Notes
recipe slightly adapted from here
Do you ever eat savory pies? What’s your favorite kind? I’d love to add more options to my repertoire!
I love your hand pies! I've done this the 'open faced' way, so I know they are good!
Thank you!
Ooh this sounds interesting! By open faced I'm thinking you mean little tarts? That sounds wonderful!