Converting Pie Recipes to Mini Pies

The Filling

A 9-inch pie recipe will yield between four and six individual 5-inch pies or two 7-inch pies. Be careful not to overfill your pie tins as these are typically much more shallow than a standard 9-inch pan.

This is the maximum amount of filling in cups for each pie tin:

• 9 inch pie = 4 cups filling
• 7 inch pie = 2 cups filling
• 5 inch pie = 3/4 cups filling

If you have a pie tin that is a different size than the ones listed above, you can test the capacity of your tin by pouring water in it until it reaches the brim of the tin.

The Crust

For 5-inch pies:

A single dough pie crust will yield about four individual 5-inch pies. To help with the baking time, you will want to roll out the dough thinner than you do for a 9-inch pie, to about a 16 inch square. This will give you four 8 inch squares to work with (you need the dough to overhang by about 1/2″ if you’ll be crimping or adding any lattice).You can either work the squares into the pie tins and trim the excess, or use an 8-inch circle guide to cut them before putting them in the tins. If you’re adding lattice, make sure to save those scraps from the first crust. Individual pies tend to require more dough than a standard pie.

A crumb crust recipe will yield between 4 and 6 individual 5-inch pies. This will all depend on how thick you want to make your crumb crust. Many crumb crust recipes will call for 2 1/2 cups of whichever cookie or cracker you are using, so you can add 1/2 cup of crumb to each tin to get even crusts.

For 7-inch pies:

This one is a lot simpler. A double crust recipe of pie dough will yield enough dough for three 7-inch pies. The same goes for a crumb crust.

Baking

Bake the individual pies at the temperature your original recipe calls for. Follow the recipe’s directions for oven placement, too.

The baking time is where the experimentation happens. The ratio of individual pie baking time to 9-inch pie baking time has varied for each type of pie I’ve made. If you’re worried about over-baking, start checking around half of the original recipe’s baking time. Generally, the baking time for 5-inch individual pies has been about 3/5 the original baking time. For 7-inch pies, it will be closer to 4/5 the original time.

From The Pursuit of Nice

MOQUECA DE CAMARÃO (COCONUT SHRIMP STEW)

For The Marinade

• 1 clove garlic
• 1 lime
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 500 g king prawns

For The Sauce

• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 fresh green chilli
• 1 green pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp cayenne
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp tomato puree
• 4 plum tomatoes
• 400 ml coconut milk
• 1 bunch fresh coriander

To Finish

• 1 big bowl cooked white rice
• 2 spring onions
• 1 lime

MARINATE THE PRAWNS

Peel and mince the garlic for the marinade and scrape it into a mixing bowl. Zest the lime into the bowl then squeeze in the juice. Add the chilli flakes and the prawns. Marinate for an hour.

FRY THE VEG

Peel and dice the onion. Peel and mince the garlic for the sauce. Dice the chilli and deseed and thinly slice the peppers. Place a large saucepan over a medium high heat and add all of the prepared veg. Fry for 5 minutes, add the chilli powder, cayenne and paprika then turn the heat down low and fry for another 10 minutes, until the veg is starting to caramelise.

COOK THE STEW

Dice the tomatoes, keeping the seeds. Add the tomato puree and cook it out for a few more minutes before adding the fresh tomato and the coconut milk. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add the prawns and simmer for another 5 minutes. Serve with white rice. serves 4