Jewish Meat Hand Pies "Маина" - (Free Recipe below)

Ingredients

1. 8 sheets puff pastry (6 inches x 6 inches), thawed
2. 1 1/2 lbs beef/chicken thighs (skinless)
3. 1 carrot, peeled
4. 1 large, peeled and diced
5. 1 small onion, peeled
6. 1 clove garlic, minced
7. 1/4 tsp black pepper
8. salt, to taste
9. 100 grams Spaghetti
10. 4-5 tblsp olive oil
11. Chopped parsley, for soup

1. 1 egg + 1 tablespoon water, beaten together

Instructions

1. Fill a pot with 3 quarts of water, place on the stove and turn the heat to high. Wash the meat and put it into the pot. If cooking chicken add the peeled onion and peeled carrot to the pot right away. Bring it to boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to low and cook until the meat is fork tender. With a skimmer, skim the water for impurities that float to the top throughout the whole cooking process. Cook until tender (chicken 1 hour, beef 3 hours). For beef, add the carrot and onion after 2 hours of cooking.
2. Cook the spaghetti according to package instructions. Drain the spaghetti and rinse with cold running water. Set aside.
3. Once the meat is fork tender, remove it from the pot into a separate bowl. Let cool.
4. Fold the paper towel about 2-3 times and place it over a colander, making sure that the paper towel extends over the colander. Drain the meat broth and reserve for serving with the puff pastry.
5. Sautee the onion with the oil, until light golden in color.
6. Take the puff pastry out of the freezer, place on a paper towel and allow to thaw.
7. Turn the oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside
8. Put the meat through the grinder.
9. Add the sautéed onion, minced garlic, black pepper and salt to the ground meat and mix well. If the meat feels very dry, add a couple of tablespoons heavy cream.
10. On a paper towel, untangle and align the spaghetti, so that all the strands are even and aligned. Cut them to the length of the puff pastry (two bunches about 6 inches long, then one will be 3 inches long).
11. Brush the top of each puff pastry square with the egg wash. Closer to the right edge, place about 8-10 strands of spaghetti (pre-cut to size) and about 3 full tablespoons of the meat filling. With your hands press the filling down. Make one fold from the right, towards left, making a roulade and placing the roulade seem side down.
12. Transfer to the baking sheet. With a serrated knife, make diagonal cuts on top of each pie, cutting through about every 1/2 an inch. Repeat with the rest of the pastry dough and filling, placing each hand-pie about 2 inches apart.
13. If you want to achieve the “braid” look, without actually braiding the pastry, make the cuts diagonally, alternating between going from top right towards left bottom, and then left top towards right bottom, without the cuts meeting each other.
14. If you want to get braid the puff pastry, visually divide the square into 3 equal rectangles, with a knife, make diagonal cuts on the right third of the puff pastry, about 1/3 inch apart, then on the left 1/3 of the square. Put the filling in the middle, press it down to compress. Now take one strand from the right and pull over the filling, then take a strand from the left and pull it towards the right strand and press them together. Repeat in similar fashion with the rest of the strands.
15. Brush each hand pie with egg wash.
16. Place the sheet with the pies in the oven.
17. Bake @ 425F for about 15 minutes or until golden in color.
18. Remove from the oven and serve right away.

Notes