History
St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, is celebrated with a Scottish national holiday on November 30th. Scots celebrate with dancing, story-telling, and, of course, traditional foods. This meat pie is one such example! It features stew meat, a vegetable or two, spices, and a puff pastry to top it off.
But how did Saint Andrew, whose blue and white x-shaped cross constitutes the Scottish flag, come to be so honored by these people?
As we touched on in our St. Andrew post, this apostle preached to the Scythians and other peoples. The Scythians later migrated from their land on the shores of the Black Sea to find their way to modern-day Scotland. These spiritual descendants of Andrew were fond not only of their spiritual father but also of the political-religious power that having him as a patron afforded them—especially with the pope when the English kings wanted to claim Scotland.
A further connection to Scotland can be found in the story of St. Andrew’s relics, some of which were reportedly moved from their home in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople to Fife, Scotland, where St. Andrew’s Cathedral was erected.
Scottish Meat Pie Recipe
Ingredients
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 pound beef for stewing, cubed
3 tablespoon oil
1 large onion, diced
1 cup beef broth
2-3 carrots, cut into coins
thyme sprig
2-3 sage leaves
1 puff pastry
1 egg, separated
1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Combine the flour, salt, and pepper, and toss in the meat chunks to coat. Brown meat in 3 tbsp oil on medium-high heat.
- To the pan, add in the onion and cook until translucent. Then pour in the broth and add the carrots and herbs.
- Reduce the heat to a simmer and let cook for 2½ to 3 hours. Remove the puff pastry from the freezer to thaw.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and grease a pie dish. Once the meat filling is cooked and the flavors have melded, transfer it to the pie dish. Roll out the pastry and place on top of the pie filling. Trim the edges, leaving an inch to allow for shrinking. Cut an x-shape in the top.
- Brush with an egg wash (1 egg white plus 1 tbsp water) and bake at 400°F for 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. If desired, brush with butter after removing from the oven. Enjoy!
St. Andrew’s Scottish Meat Pie
Ingredients
- ½ C all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 lb beef for stewing cubed
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 C beef broth
- 2-3 carrots, cut into coins
- thyme sprig
- 2-3 sage leaves
- 1 puff pastry
- 1 egg separated
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Combine the flour, salt, and pepper, and toss in the meat chunks to coat. Brown meat in 3 tbsp oil on medium-high heat.
- To the pan, add in the onion and cook until translucent. Then pour in the broth and add the carrots and herbs.
- Reduce the heat to a simmer and let cook for 2½ to 3 hours. Remove the puff pastry from the freezer to thaw.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and grease a pie dish. Once the meat filling is cooked and the flavors have melded, transfer it to the pie dish. Roll out the pastry and place on top of the pie filling. Trim the edges, leaving an inch to allow for shrinking. Cut an x-shape in the top.
- Brush with an egg wash (1 egg white plus 1 tbsp water) and bake at 400°F for 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. If desired, brush with butter after removing from the oven. Enjoy!
References:
1. Michael T R B Turnbull, “A History of St. Andrew”, Scotland, 2016. https://www.scotland.org/features/a-history-of-st-andrew
