If you’re in the mood for a healthier option than a meat pie or sausage roll for dinner, then this is the meal for you. It has all the essential ingredients of a pie or sausage roll such as the deliciously flaky puff pastry and mince, but it also have vegetables in it so you can feel better about eating it.

If you have some leftover savoury mince from a previous night, I suggest using that as the filling here, otherwise I have a smaller version of that recipe that you can make quickly for this meal. It is best if you let your mince mixture cool before adding it to the puff pastry so if you’re really in a rush, you can put the mixture into the freezer for 10 minutes. It won’t be cooled completely but it will be cool enough.

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 20 minutes for the pastries + 25 minutes for the mince mixture

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 200 g mince beef
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 – 3 cups mixed vegetables
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup prepared lentils
• 1/2 – 1 tsp gravy mix
• 2 tsp worcestershire sauce (optional)
• 1 tsp oil, for frying
• 2 sheets frozen puff pastry

Method

1. In a large fry pan, heat the oil to medium and cook the onion until it is soft.
2. Add the mince and vegetables and cook until  mince has browned.
3. Add the stock and simmer until the mince and vegetables are cooked.
4. Add the gravy mix and bring to the boil, then simmer for 2 minutes until the gravy has thickened.
5. Set aside until the mixture has cooled.
6. Take 2 sheets of frozen puff pastry and leave them on the bench to defrost.
7. Preheat oven to 220C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
8. Cut each sheet of puff pastry into quarters.
9. Add 3 tbs of mixture to the centre of 4 of the quarters, leaving at least a 1cm border around the edge. (It is ok to pile the mixture up a bit so long as you can put another square of puff pastry on top and crimp it down comfortably.)
10. Place another piece of puff pastry on top, and, using a fork, crimp the edges together. If there are any holes, your mixture will leave out of your pastry.
11. Bake in oven for 20 minutes until the pastry is puffed and golden.
12. Serve hot with salad (my children love it with tomato sauce smiley faces on top)