There are many words associated with Afrikaans heritage, but none more synonymous than “braai”. “Kom ons braai”, “Ons gaan nou braai”, “Gaan ons braai saam die rugby?” and the currently very trendy: “Brrraai Pie” (said with a very thick accent). We absolutely adore this heritage, and the unique flavour it brings to our colourful, multi-linguistic nation. For this reason, we’ve come up with our very own “Braai Pie” that is a great excuse to light the coals and carve up the leftovers from the previous night’s braai!
Cook: 20 minutes
Serves: 6
INGREDIENTS
- 1 punnet brown mushrooms, sliced
- 400g leftover or freshly prepared steak, sliced
- 100ml red onion marmalade (or caramelise your own onions)
- 2 rolls of store-bought puff pastry
- 100g smooth cream cheese
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Diced fresh thyme and rosemary
- Melted butter
VARIATIONS
- Try a vegetarian-friendly version! Replace the steak with roasted or chargrilled vegetables, like: aubergine, courgette and baby leeks.
- This recipe also works great with: basil pesto, tomato relish, parmesan, and tender chicken strips.
METHOD
Get the fire going and let it crackle away for a while. We don’t want to burn our braai pie, only chargrill it!
In a pan, fry the sliced mushrooms, olive oil, fresh herbs, and some seasoning. Be sure to cook off all the extra moisture or your braai pie will become soggy, not crisp. Set this mixture aside. If you haven’t done so already, slice up your leftover, or freshly prepared, steak.
Grab your trusty, old braai grid and place one of the rolls of puff pastry directly on to it. Make sure to leave a 2cm border and smother the pastry in your sticky onion marmalade, or caramelised onions.
Top it with the cooled mushroom mixture, slivers of steak and a good amount of seasoning.
On the other unrolled sheet of puff pastry, and again with a 2 cm border, spread a generous amount of cream cheese. Then, carefully place this roll of puff pastry, with the cream cheese facing down, on top of the braai-pie-in-progress.
As neatly as you can, and checking that no delicious morsels fall out of the pie, pinch and fold the edges and seal in all that goodness!
Finally, brush the pie with melted butter and turn the braai grid every few minutes for approximately 15 minutes, or until the puff pastry has turned golden and crispy.
Enjoy with an ice-cold beverage. Perfect for sharing!
