Ras el hanout is a Moroccan spice blend that can vary widely but typically contains a variety of spices like turmeric, cumin, cardamom, coriander, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, ginger, black pepper, cayenne, etc. Roughly translated to "top shelf," spice shops traditionally blend their best spices to create ras el hanout. No matter the blend you buy, you can bet this mixture will lend complex and rich flavors to any dish you make with it.
Goat is traditionally used in Moroccan cuisine, and we jokingly refer to antelope as "speedgoats" in Wyoming so I figured ras el hanout would be a great seasoning for antelope meat. All joking aside, the warm aroma of the ras el hanout really elevates the flavor of the antelope in these hand pies.
Browning the antelope meat with the ras el hanout and vegetables allows the spices to really sink in to the filling. I'm not usually one to peruse the "as seen on TV" aisle at the grocery store, but there is one tool you might find there that I can't live without. The ChopStir is an absolute necessity if you make a lot of ground meat dishes. It works just like the name says. You can chop the meat as you stir it and you end up with uniform meat crumbles instead of large crumbles of meat that never get seasoned properly. I promise if you make this <$10 investment, you'll wonder how you lived so many years without it.
When it comes to pie crust, I love to use my food processor because it incorporates the butter into the dry ingredients much better than I've ever been able to do by hand. I add in most of the ice water in the food processor and then knead in the last ¼ cup by hand to avoid overworking the dough. The dough is very easy to work with and produces a tender, flaky crust. As an added bonus, this particular pie crust recipe freezes really well.
With 2 full-time working parents and 2 little boys in our house, it's always nice to have an arsenal of freezer meals for easy weeknight dinners. After par-baking these hand pies, they freeze and bake up beautifully. I put them on a parchment-paper lined sheet pan in the morning and pop them in the fridge. By evening, they're ready to bake. The sauce also freezes well in snack size zippered bags.
Combined with the sweetness of the fruit preserves, creaminess of the yogurt, flaky crust, and spicy sweet dipping sauce, these hand pies are sure to excite your taste buds and warm your belly.
African Spiced Antelope Hand Pies with Spicy Mango Sauce
Equipment
- Food Processor
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup), cubed
- 5 tablespoon ice water
- 1 egg
- sesame seeds
Filling
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb ground antelope
- 1 tablespoon ras el hanout seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 yellow onion, finely diced
- ¾ cup carrots, peeled and finely diced
- ½ cup mango preserves (or apricot preserves, orange marmalade, etc.)
- ½ cup whole milk Greek yogurt
Dipping Sauce
- ½ cup mango preserves (or apricot preserves, orange marmalade, etc.)
- 2 tablespoon sambal oelek (chili sauce)
Instructions
Crust
- Add flour, sugar and salt to food processor. Process until combined.
- Add in cubed butter and process until butter is well-incorporated into dry ingredients. Butter pieces should be less than pea size.
- Add 3 tablespoon ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to processor and process until combined. Add in last 2 tablespoon water and finish kneading by hand. Be careful not to overwork the dough or it will become tough.
- Divide dough into 2 discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Hand Pies
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Line sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Heat olive oil in a large pan. Add ground antelope, ras el hanout and salt. Break meat up into crumbles while it cooks. When meat is has started to brown, add in chopped onion and carrots. Cook until onion is translucent and carrots are soft. Add in preserves and yogurt and mix until well-combined.
- Divide each dough disc into 10 balls. On a floured surface, roll each ball into a 6 inch circle.
- Add ¼ cup filling to each dough circle. Wet fingers with cold water and lightly wet the edges of the circle. Fold one half over the filling. Press dough down to seal the edges and fold the bottom edge over. Place hand pies on parchment paper-lined sheet pan. Cut slits in the top to vent.
- Beat egg with 1 teaspoon cold water. Brush each hand pie with egg mixture and top with desired amount of sesame seeds.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown and filling starts to bubble.
- Mix dipping sauce ingredients together and warm.
To Freeze
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Follow all instructions above but do not brush with egg or add sesame seeds and only bake for 5 minutes to set the crust.
- Let cool slightly then put entire sheet pan in the freezer. Freeze until solid, then add to a gallon zippered bag.
- Mix dipping sauce ingredients together and freeze in a snack size zippered bag. You can split it into 2 bags if you don't plan to bake all of the hand pies in one batch.
- For baking, thaw hand pies in the refrigerator on parchment paper-lined sheet pan. Brush with egg mixture and top with sesame seeds. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown and filling starts to bubble. Warm sauce and serve.
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