Meat Pie in Jars

For this recipe you will need:

Cooked pie filling of your choice.  Enough for 1 large pie.  Sweet or savory, it's unimportant.
1 double crust pie recipe, or prepared pie crust, your choice.
12 mini mason jars, straight sides matter.

I line up my jars.  I heat up, then drain, whatever filling I'm using and lay it on a sheet pan to cool down.  I leave the gravy in a bowl  to add some to the pie and some to use later.  I find it easier to scoop filling with a little scoop, I'm bad at equal distribution, this method works for me :)

This is my own pastry but sometimes I buy, if the premade stuff is on sale, I'm in!  My mother would be horrified, she's the pastry queen but what she doesn't see...  :)

Roll out the pastry, cut 2 circles per jar (1 for the bottom and 1 for the top).  I cut strips with a pizza wheel and press them into the jars around the sides.

Fill to most of the way up, add a little extra gravy/sauce and top with the reserved circles.  A knife slit in the top stops any future explosions.  Pop the lids on, throw a letter on top so you know what they are and shove them in the freezer!  DONE!

                    

M is for meat :)  Off to the freezer with them.  When I am ready to bake, I'll preheat the oven to 375, pop as many jars on a tray as we need OPENED and bake them about 45 minutes.  Run a thin knife around the edge when they are baked and they'll pop out!  Eat hot or cold, with a meal or a salad, there's nothing better than opening your freezer and finding......

Fresh out of the oven,


Run a knife around the edge and they pop out very easily!
  

With mashed potatoes, green beans and some gravy...
 

mmmmm, pie.

/enjoy

Pie in a Jar

There is always room for pie.  Sometimes you need pie, not just feel like pie or wish you had pie or think that pie would be a good idea.  Sometimes it's a need that if you don't satisfy you'll burst into flames.

I can fix it so that you never, ever, have to be without pie again.  You don't need to run to the store or *gasp* the bakery.  You certainly have to open your freezer but it's YOUR freezer filled with YOUR pie.  You can have one or twenty and there is absolutely no waste.  This works for a family or a single, I've been both and I've always had pie. 

This is a cheat version.  Trust me, frequently I peel some apples, shred them into a pan with some melted butter, sugar and cinnamon and cook them down a bit and use that as my filling.  Not this day, this day we're straight out of a can because I had a can and really, I had to be wasteful.

On that note, I know how to make pastry, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't.  It's your call, if you WANT to make pastry; go for it.  If you don't want to make it, help keep those Pillsbury people employed and buy a box (or two) when they go on sale and keep them in your freezer for pie making day.  That's today. 

The only other thing you need is the mini jam (mason) jars, short and wide mouthed is what we need here.  These are about 2 inches high and you can buy a gross at Walmart for next to nothing.

Assemble your ingredients, however fresh or homemade they may be.  You need pastry, some sort of fruit filling, some lemon and some cinnamon and the half mason jars.  If I use canned apple filling (this one is sugar free) I add a squeeze of lemon and some cinnamon to it in a bowl and chop the apples a bit, it makes the filling 'brighter' and less 'canned'.

Roll out whatever pie dough you feel the urge to use and line the mason jar.  Fill almost to the top and put the 'lid' on, seal it up the best you can.  I should have left more up the sides or maybe not filled it quite so full, it's a trial and error thing.

 
 

After you put the top crust on it, put the mason lid on and shove it in the freezer.  

 

I baked this immediately on pie day without having been frozen because I couldn't stand the wait.  I sprinkled a little bit of sugar on it and baked about 40 minutes.  I drizzled a little cream on it and ate it right out of the jar after it rested about 15 minutes, it's too molten much before that.
  

I baked this one from frozen solid at a lower temperature, I could have let it go longer to get a darker crust but I wanted pie!  There was some explosion but really, it's all good.  I did run a knife around it and invert it on a plate, it was cool and it made my mother (who was skyping me at the time) green with envy at my instant hot apple pie.  I covered it with heavy cream and ate it ruthlessly.  

  

Make it, use any cooked filling and fill your freezer with these pies.  You can do sweet or savory fillings and if you don't want to use a pastry crust you can do a crumble topping.  Make this, you'll be happy happy happy and you will never be pie-less during your next pie emergency.

/enjoy