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CHOW: Recipes: Natchitoches Meat Pies

Natchitoches Meat Pies Recipe

From: Real Cajun: Rustic Home Cooking from Donald Link's Louisiana , by
Natchitoches Meat Pies
Makes: Makes about 16 pies

In Louisiana, Natchitoches is famous for its extravagant display of Christmas lights, but it is also famous for meat pies—with good reason. The spicy seasonings and mix of chiles, onions, and beef make an unforgettable snack that’s perfectly salty, spicy, and fried.

Meat pies are a quintessential festival snack; they’re perfect for backyard barbecues, festivals, and parties when you have people standing around, as they don’t require any silverware or plates (you can also make the dough a day or two in advance). They are really great the next day, cold for breakfast as well. Another cool thing about ground meat pies is that they can be made all year long, whereas crawfish pies are seasonal. I must warn you about these pies: You can eat more of them than your stomach can handle, and you won’t realize it until it’s too late, so be careful.

Special equipment: You will need a deep-frying/candy thermometer for this recipe.

This recipe was featured as part of our Mardi Gras Recipes photo gallery.

INGREDIENTS
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 pound ground beef (not lean)
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
  • 4 plum tomatoes, diced
  • 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped
  • 1 medium jalapeño pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 bunch scallions (green and white parts), thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
  • 5 dashes Louisiana hot sauce
  • Meat Pie Dough, chilled
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • Vegetable oil, for frying
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil in a 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meat, salt, paprika, cayenne, chili powder, cumin, and black and white peppers and cook, using a metal spatula to break up the meat, for about 5 to 8 minutes, or until the meat is lightly browned.
  2. Add the tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, jalapeño, bay leaves, dried thyme, and Worcestershire sauce and cook, stirring, for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, until most of the juices have evaporated and the vegetables have softened.
  3. Dust the flour over the meat and add the water, stirring to combine (this should tighten up the mixture enough so it won’t leak moisture when it’s encased in the dough). Remove and discard the bay leaves. Stir in the scallions and hot sauce and transfer the mixture to a baking pan (or dish) to cool for 20 minutes at room temperature. Place in the refrigerator until completely cooled, at least 15 minutes more.
  4. When you’re ready to prepare the pies, heat the oven to 200°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper and a dusting of flour. Divide the dough into four even sections to make it easier to work with. Return three of the sections to the refrigerator. Dust the counter with a sprinkling of flour and roll out the first section until it’s about 1/8 inch thick. Using a 4-inch biscuit cutter (or a similar-size bowl or jar lid), cut the dough into rounds. Save the scraps; they can be rerolled if needed.
  5. Lightly brush the outer edges of each circle with beaten egg. Place 2 1/2 tablespoons of filling in the center of each round. Fold the circle over the filling to make a half circle. Using the back of a fork, press around the round side of the circle to seal the pie. Transfer the pies to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat the process with the remaining dough sections.
  6. When you fill a baking sheet, place it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes so the dough stays firm. You can also freeze the uncooked pies. Just freeze them on the baking sheet first, and when they are fully frozen, transfer them to a plastic freezer bag.
  7. To fry the pies, heat 2 1/2 inches of oil in a large cast iron skillet or Dutch oven until the oil reaches 350°F on a deep-frying/candy thermometer. Fry the chilled pies in batches of four or five at a time, cooking for about 8 minutes, until golden. (Frozen pies will need about 12 to 14 minutes.) Transfer the cooked pies to a baking sheet lined with paper towels or newspaper, and keep warm in the oven while you fry the remaining pies.

Recipe provided by Chef Donald Link, author of Real Cajun: Rustic Home Cooking from Donald Link’s Louisiana.

This recipe, while from a trusted source, may not have been tested by the CHOW food team.
Adapted with permission from Real Cajun: Rustic Home Cooking from Donald LInk's Louisiana

    Write a review | 15 Reviews
POST A COMMENT |15 Comments

COMMENT

  • I also would like to make this recipe and am unable to locate where the dough recipe is specified.

  • Here's a link to the dough recipe oldunc:

    http://www.chow.com/recipes/28093-meat-pie-dough

    Deborah from CHOW

  • I'd like to try this, but the dough recipe is hidden too cleverly for me.

  • Donald Link is an amazing chef. No doubt this recipe will be a winner.

  • Just made this recipe today for a birthday/going away party tonight and they were AMAZING!! Can't speak to the authenticity either but when you taste them it won't matter. They were spicy and complex and the dough was out of this world. Thanks for a great recipe!!

  • I'm making these for a 2nd time (right now, in fact, the nonauthentic ground beef is simmering). While I've got nothing to contribute about authenticity, I will say these are super tasty.

    Also, maybe it's relevant: I'm using Donald Link's cookbook [Real Cajun: Rustic Home Cooking....etc], and the published recipe does not include that "preheat to 200°F" direction. "When you're ready to prepare...+READ

    I'm making these for a 2nd time (right now, in fact, the nonauthentic ground beef is simmering). While I've got nothing to contribute about authenticity, I will say these are super tasty.

    Also, maybe it's relevant: I'm using Donald Link's cookbook [Real Cajun: Rustic Home Cooking....etc], and the published recipe does not include that "preheat to 200°F" direction. "When you're ready to prepare the pies, line two baking sheets with parchment paper and a dusting of flour." I'd guess this is a cut-n-paste error in transcription.

    I found it hard to seal the edges with the dough circles as described, so I had to cut them larger and put less filling in. Sad meat: pastry ratio. This time I will roll them much thinner and see if I can stuff them properly.

    SO. GOOD. Would love to see a recipe considered authentic by a consesus, though.-COLLAPSE

  • I made these for a Mardis Gras party. They were FANTASTIC!! Everyone raved about them. I can't wait to experiment with the filling.

  • Greg, I think what the recipe is meaning is as it states in the last sentence of the recipe "Transfer the cooked pies to a baking sheet lined with paper towels or newspaper, and keep warm in the oven while you fry the remaining pies." They were telling you in advance to heat the oven to 200 in the event you were going to fry them immediately after making them (not freezing them). It probably...+READ

    Greg, I think what the recipe is meaning is as it states in the last sentence of the recipe "Transfer the cooked pies to a baking sheet lined with paper towels or newspaper, and keep warm in the oven while you fry the remaining pies." They were telling you in advance to heat the oven to 200 in the event you were going to fry them immediately after making them (not freezing them). It probably would have read better if they put the preheat the oven to 200 part in #6 and been less confusing.-COLLAPSE

  • This makes no sense:

    "When you’re ready to prepare the pies, heat the oven to 200°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper and a dusting of flour. Divide the dough into four even sections to make it easier to work with."

    But the recipe never mentions putting the pies (or anything else) into the oven, and such a low oven would do nothing anyway. The pies later get fried. What is the...+READ

    This makes no sense:

    "When you’re ready to prepare the pies, heat the oven to 200°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper and a dusting of flour. Divide the dough into four even sections to make it easier to work with."

    But the recipe never mentions putting the pies (or anything else) into the oven, and such a low oven would do nothing anyway. The pies later get fried. What is the point of the oven reference?-COLLAPSE

  • I'm sure this is fine, but it's not a Natchitoches meat pie. I'm from there and I've NEVER seen one made with only beef. (I've heard of some folks using equal parts pork, beef, and veal.) We always used half ground pork, half ground beef. My family back home says that Lasyone's has fallen far from what it used to be, but the meat pies still have this unctuous, slightly liquid consistency to the...+READ

    I'm sure this is fine, but it's not a Natchitoches meat pie. I'm from there and I've NEVER seen one made with only beef. (I've heard of some folks using equal parts pork, beef, and veal.) We always used half ground pork, half ground beef. My family back home says that Lasyone's has fallen far from what it used to be, but the meat pies still have this unctuous, slightly liquid consistency to the filling that I've never been able to duplicate--it's a little like thick chili. I've never heard of using cumin or tomatoes either. Cooking them in the oven absolutely works just fine, by the way--it just makes a different product than a fried pie.-COLLAPSE

  • I drove through Natchitoches last weekend and swung by the original meat pie place and grabbed a few SO good. This recipe is a good recipe, but Natchitoches meat pies it ain't! Real meat pies are predominantly pork (I believe Lasyone's there says they do 80% pork to 20% beef) the seasonings are off too (more of a Mexican sounding version with the chili powder and cumin!) but still good.

  • Is Chow the new way to promo a cookbook?

  • I have been to Natchitoches and enjoyed the meat pies and the Christmas lights...

    I can't wait to make/eat these.

  • Good grief, these look too delicious for words! Can you cook them in the oven instead of deep frying them? And how do you make the crawfish version?

  • Just saw your recipe, looks most excellent. But you had to throw that teaser in there, didn't you? I'm referring, of course, to the crawdad pie. Will you be so kind as to post a recipe for that as well?