Savoury Beef Pie in a Braided Rosemary Pastry

I follow a fabulous blog called Family Feedbag. Tonight I tried a beef pie recipe from Amy's collection. To make it my own I did a rosemary infused pastry crust rather than the walnut crust she presents. This is such a delicious dish and fancy enough that it could easily serve as a fabulous Christmas Eve/ New Years eve dish. 

Ingredients

Pastry

follow recipe for pastry found here 

2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary 

Filling
a splash of olive oil
1 cups onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb ground beef OR 1 package of Yves Veggie Ground Round 'Beef'
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp mustard seeds or 1 tsp ground clove

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

Topping
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt

Heat a skillet over medium heat, add olive oil, garlic and onions. Cook until onions are softened. Add ground beef and spices and cook until meat is cooked through. Remove from heat and stir in flour. Let cool. 

To the plain pasty, add chopped rosemary and knead until well-incorporated. Roll out into an elongated oval form. Coat a baking sheet with a small amount of olive oil and lay the rolled out pasty down. Top with the beef mixture, building the beef into a column in the middle of the pastry.  

Along the pastry's edges, cut inch wide strips that run perpendicular to the column of beef. Braid the pastry by first folding up the end, then alternating strips from the left and right sides of the beef, tucking edges into one another. 

The photo below demonstrates the end product of the braiding step. Next, brush the exterior with a beaten egg and top with a small amount of salt. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes.  

Enjoy with fresh peas and roasted sweet potato and apple puree. 

This recipe gets a three whisk rating due to the pastry.