Savory Squash Hand Pies
Filled with squash, apples, sausage, herbs, and spice, these hand pies are great to serve at any time of the year. But they're especially perfect during the fall and winter seasons when squash is in season. A perfect filling paired with a flaky crust creates a great main, side, or snack!
Servings: 12 servings
Ingredients
- 12 oz sausage (about 4 links)
- ½ lb butternut squash peeled and diced
- ½ small onion diced
- 1 apple (such as Honeycrisp, Braeburn, or Jonagold) diced
- 1 cup frozen kale
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- ¾ tsp garlic granules
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- ½ cup chicken stock
- 2 recipes for 9-inch pie crust
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp of neutral oil. Dice the sausage links into small pieces and add to the skillet. Cook the sausage until browned, 6-8 minutes. Once browned, remove the sausage from the skillet and set it aside.12 oz sausage (about 4 links)
- Use the remaining oil and grease from the sausage, return the skillet to medium heat. Add the onion, squash, and apple. Sauté until the squash is softened and beginning to brown, 12-15 minutes. Once the squash is cooked, add the kale (or spinach) and stir to combine. Add the salt, black pepper, thyme leaves, and dried garlic. Stir to combine and sprinkle with the flour. Cook the flour into the mixture for one minute and pour in the stock. Stir everything together until the stock comes to a simmer. Cook until the stock has mostly dissipated and is thickened, 4-6 minutes.½ lb butternut squash, ½ small onion, 1 apple (such as Honeycrisp, Braeburn, or Jonagold), 1 cup frozen kale, 1 tsp kosher salt, ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper, 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, ¾ tsp garlic granules, 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, ½ cup chicken stock
- Once the stock is cooked, remove the mixture from the heat and add the sausage to the filling. Allow the filling to cool to room temperature.
- While the filling is cooling, roll the pie dough out to a rough 12-inch by 14-inch rectangle and ¼-inch thick. Use a bowl or large cutter to cut six 5-inch circles, pushing the dough together and rolling out as needed.2 recipes for 9-inch pie crust
- Once the circles are cut and the filling is cooled, preheat the oven to 375°F. Beat 1 egg with 2 tsp water and set aside.
- Add roughly 2 tbsp of filling to each dough circle and brush the edge of the circle of dough with the beaten egg. Fold one side of the dough onto the other, pressing firmly to seal. Press the tines of a fork around the now half circle to fully seal the hand pie. Place the hand pies on two parchment-lined baking sheets. The hand pies can be frozen at this point and baked in smaller quantities when needed.
- Once all the hand pies are formed, brush the tops with the egg water and cut a 1-inch vent into the hand pies. Sprinkle the hand pies with Parmesan cheese and bake in the preheated oven until they are golden on the bottom and top, 20-24 minutes.½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Once baked, remove the hand pies from the oven and cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
- The squash mixture is done cooking when thickened and holds together. It will look like a thick gravy that contains the pieces of squash and apples together slightly.
- Make sure to let the squash and sausage mixture cool completely before filling the hand pies. If the mixture is still hot or even warm, it will cause the dough to melt, which could affect the flakiness of each hand pie.
- Pie dough is used for hand pies because of its flaky texture. The pockets of butter within the pie dough will create pockets of steam, creating the flaky layers of dough that are desired.
- When cutting out the rounds of pie dough, I use a cereal bowl, which is coincidentally 5-inches around. You can use any circular object that is approximately 5-inches in diameter.
- If the pie crust is getting too warm while working with it, simply place it back in the freezer for a few minutes to chill it. This will ensure that the hand pies have the best texture once baked.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 426kcal