Fennel, sausage, tomato and mozzarella hand pies

1 hour 35 minutes + chilling
makes 6
Easy

Check out Edd Kimber's fennel, sausage, tomato and mozzarella hand pies. These easy-to-make golden American hand pies are super crispy and packed with gooey mozzarella, the perfect lunchtime snack

October 19, 2017 at 1:00 pm

Baking expert Edd Kimber says… ‘I have a soft spot for American hand pies – they’re like a fancy version of Pop-Tarts. You can fill them with whatever you want. For my version I wanted to do something you could take on a journey or throw in a lunch box, so they’re filled with a simple fennel, sausage, tomato and mozzarella mixture.’

Ingredients

flaky pie dough 1 quantity, link to recipe below
plain flour for dusting
egg 1, beaten
fennel seeds for sprinkling

FILLING

olive oil 1 tbsp
onion 1 small, diced
garlic 1 clove, finely chopped
fennel seeds 1 tbsp
pork sausages 4, skinned
passata 200ml
grated mozzarella 150g, (see cook's notes)

Method

Step 1

Make the pastry following the flaky pie dough recipe here.
Step 2

Line a baking tray with baking paper. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the onion with the garlic and fennel seeds for 5-10 minutes, until translucent. Crumble the sausages into the pan, break up with a wooden spoon and fry the meat until it starts to brown. Pour in the passata and simmer for 5-10 minutes until slightly reduced. Cool to room temperature.
Step 3

On a lightly floured worksurface, roll the first disc of pastry into a large rectangle about 30cm x 50cm. Cut the dough in two, vertically, to make 2 long rectangles and cut each horizontally into 3 small rectangles. Put these pieces of dough onto the baking tray lined with baking paper. Divide the filling between the pieces of dough, leaving a border of 1cm around the edges and top with the mozzarella. Roll out the second disc, as before. Brush the edge of each hand pie with a little water and place a second piece of dough onto the filling, gently pressing the edges together with a fork to seal. Chill for 30 minutes until firm.
Step 4

Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Remove the pies from the fridge, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with a few fennel seeds. Using a sharp paring knife, press a couple of holes into each pie. Put the pies into the oven for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack before serving. These are wonderful still slightly warm, but I prefer them at room temperature.

This is one of the occasions where the ready-grated dry bagged mozzarella is preferable as it has much less moisture than fresh mozzarella and the pies stay crisp.