Jamaican Meat Pie Footballs

Jamaican Meat Pie Footballs
What better way to celebrate the big game than with a spicy meat-filled patty shaped like a football? Nothing is wasted here -- even the puff pastry scraps are used to make laces.
Directions for: Jamaican Meat Pie Footballs

Ingredients

2 tsp fresh thyme leaves

6 scallions, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1 Scotch Bonnet chile or Habanero, seeds removed and roughly chopped (see Cook's Note)

green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and roughly chopped

8 oz ground beef

1 tsp Jamaican curry powder

tsp ground allspice

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 17.3-oz packages puff pastry (4 sheets)

1 large egg, beaten with a splash of water

Barbecue sauce, chutney or ranch dressing, for serving

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.

2. Combine the thyme, scallions, garlic, scotch bonnet chile and bell pepper in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped (take care not to make a smooth puree).

3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the beef, and cook, stirring, until slightly brown, about 2 minutes. Add the pepper mixture, curry powder and allspice, and cook, stirring, until the beef is deeply browned and the filling is fragrant, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the oil. Season the filling with 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper and let the filling cool completely. Taste the filling and adjust the seasoning with more salt as needed.

4. Roll each sheet of puff pastry to about 1/8 inch thick. Using a 4-inch football or oval-shaped cutter, stamp out 8 ovals of dough from each sheet; reserve the dough scraps. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the beef mixture onto the center of half the dough ovals and brush the edges with egg mixture. Top each oval with a second dough oval and crimp the edges with a fork to seal. Transfer the patties to the prepared baking sheets.

5. from the dough scraps, cut sixteen 2-by-1/8-inch strips and forty-eight 1-by-1/8-inch strips, using a paring knife or pizza cutter. Arrange the long strips lengthwise across the center of each oval then arrange 3 short strips crosswise over the long strips to form the laces of a football. so as not to disturb the placement of the laces, carefully brush the tops of the ovals with egg mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

6. Serve with barbecue sauce, chutney or ranch dressing for dipping.

Tips and Substitutions

Cook's Note

It?s a good idea to wear food safe gloves when handling the chile.

Source and Credits

Courtesy of Food Network Kitchen

Copyright 2017 Television Food Network, G.P. all rights reserved.

See more: Beef, Appetizer, Caribbean, Main, Party Favourites, Pastry, Pepper