Ground meat puff pastry: homemade recipe, filling and cooking

A successful ground meat puff pastry takes three steps: brown the meat with an onion and spices, let it cool, then enclose it in well-chilled puff pastry before baking at 180–200°C. The filling must be cooked and lukewarm, never hot, otherwise the butter in the pastry will melt before it enters the oven and the layers will not rise.

Using the same base, you can make individual puff pastries, a large roll to slice, a tart, or appetizer bites. The final, often overlooked factor is the meat itself: a selected cut ground on the day gives a juicier, better-holding filling than pre-ground meat from a tray.

Ground meat puff pastry: the basic filling

The filling is prepared in four steps, before you even touch the pastry.

For two rolls of puff pastry, you will need:

• 500 g of ground meat;
• one onion and one clove of garlic;
• one tablespoon of tomato paste;
• one egg and two tablespoons of breadcrumbs;
• a small bunch of parsley;
• salt, pepper and a pinch of cumin or paprika;
• one egg yolk aside, for glazing.

Melt the sliced onion in a drizzle of oil for five minutes, add the garlic, then the meat. Break it up with a fork and cook until no longer pink, generally 8 to 10 minutes over medium heat. If the pan releases a lot of liquid, let it reduce: excess liquid will make the pastry soggy.

Stir in the tomato paste and spices, pour everything into a mixing bowl and let it cool for about twenty minutes. Only then add the beaten egg, breadcrumbs and chopped parsley. The egg binds the filling and prevents it from falling apart when sliced, while the breadcrumbs absorb the remaining liquid. If you grind the meat yourself, a model from our meat grinder range lets you choose the cut and the fineness of the filling.

Should ground meat be cooked before putting it in puff pastry?

Yes, this is the safest method. The time needed to brown the pastry is not always enough to cook a raw filling all the way through, and raw meat releases juice that makes the puff pastry soggy. Cook the filling in a pan, let it cool, then assemble your puff pastries.

Individual, large roll or tart: three formats for the same filling

The format changes the way the pastry is cut, the amount of filling, and especially the baking time. The table below summarizes the guidelines for each version.

The assembly depends on the format:

• individual puff pastries: cut the pastry into squares, place the filling in the center leaving a free edge, brush this edge with water and close by pressing with the tines of a fork;
• large rolled puff pastry: spread the filling over the entire pastry except for the last two centimeters, roll loosely, place the seam underneath and make a few slits on top to let the steam escape;
• tart: fill a mold, prick the base, then pour in the filling mixed with one egg and two tablespoons of cream, for a softer texture, similar to a quiche.

If you have bought a large package of meat, our ideas for cooking 500 g of ground meat will help you vary the recipes during the week. For bites to fry or brown in the oven, the beef samosa with ground meat uses a filling cooked in advance.

Successfully baking a ground meat puff pastry

Can ground meat puff pastries be prepared in advance?

The filling can be prepared the day before and kept in the refrigerator in a closed container. Assemble and bake the puff pastries on the day: pastry that has been sitting too long absorbs the moisture from the filling and rises less well when baked. On the day, all that remains is the assembly and the oven.

Grinding your own meat: what your puff pastry gains from it

Grinding the meat yourself changes three things:

• the texture: meat ground through a 5 or 7 mm plate retains its grain, the filling remains airy and does not turn into a compact paste under the puff pastry. A 3 mm plate is better suited to appetizer bites, where the filling must be spread in a thin layer;
• the choice of cut: beef chuck or top round, veal or lamb shoulder, boneless chicken thigh. A slightly marbled cut gives a tender filling, while meat that is too lean dries out in the oven;
• freshness: ground just before cooking, the meat does not have time to discolor or release its water in the tray.

For clean grinding, cut the meat into cubes, keep it very cold and grind it without delay. The 750 W electric meat grinder comes with 3, 5 and 7 mm plates, processes about 1.6 kg of meat per minute according to its specifications and has a reverse function to unblock the screw in case of a jam. Without electricity, the cast iron meat grinder no. 8 attaches to the countertop with a clamp, and the 3 in 1 aluminum alloy manual grinder also grinds poultry and vegetables. The entire motorized range is gathered in our electric meat grinder range.