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| PIE! |
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| Caru stew for a pre-made filling |
Caru stew (check out our review here) makes a perfect pot pie filling as it is thick and saucy, full of healthy meats and veggies, and already cooked-through. All I had to do was whip up a pup-friendly pie crust, pour in some Caru stew, and pop it in the oven. Easy-peasy!
If making pie sounds intimidating to you, then pup pies might be the perfect practice. They are smaller, so you'll go through fewer ingredients, and your pup will (most likely) not judge and thoroughly appreciate the outcome.
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| Ingredients for dog-friendly meat pie, food processor optional |
There are just a couple of ingredients for this pie recipe:
- Caru stew (any flavor)
- whole wheat flour
- ground flax seed- coconut oil (+ peanut butter if desired)
- ice water
- egg (optional)
Whole wheat flour contains more nutrition than white flour, but still provides gluten to hold the pie crust together nicely. Flax seed contains omega-3's for healthy skin and coat, and also provides fiber for good digestion. Ground or milled flax seed is much more digestible than the whole seeds.
Pie for people is typically made by cutting cold butter/lard/shortening into flour and mixing in ice water so that the little solid chunks of fat give off steam while baking, creating a flaky crust. I have substituted that for coconut oil, which is more dog-friendly and boasts a number of health benefits, including improved skin and coat. However, if your dog is not used to consuming coconut oil, eating too much at once may cause diarrhea. A small serving of pie should not pose a problem, but if you are concerned, you can substitute half of the coconut oil for unsalted peanut butter. The crust will be less flaky, but in exchange, it'll have the peanut-y taste that many dogs love. At this time of year, coconut oil is typically pretty solid when sitting out at room temperature, but if that is not the case for you, chill the necessary amount beforehand.
Prepping pie for people involves letting the dough rest to allow the gluten to relax, preventing the crust from shrinking in the oven. Since pup pies are on a much smaller scale, I didn't find this step necessary and left it out.
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| Use little pie pans or ramekins, or even muffin pans. |
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| Mini-muffin-sized pies (post-baking) |
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| Little pie vs. big pie |
To get the pie shape, you can use any small, oven-safe dish, such as a mini pie pan, ramekins, or even muffin pans. Grease your pie pan so that you'll be able to easily pop out the finished pie. I used a coconut oil cooking spray, but you can also just smear some coconut oil.
To get the classic shiny pie look, you can coat your pie with an egg wash before baking. The egg wash is just an egg beaten with about 1 tbsp of water. You can cook the remainder of the egg mixture for yourself or your pup. If you bake it in a little dish, it comes out like a firm egg custard.
Before popping your pie(s) in the oven, don't forget to cut holes to allow the pie filling to vent while it bakes. Try to make the holes big enough so that they won't seal shut while baking, but not so big that the stew starts spewing out. You might want to place a tray under your pie pan to catch any drips or splatters.
This recipe yields approximately one 5" pie, or three standard muffin-sized pies, or six mini-muffin-sized pies. You can halve, quarter, double, etc. as necessary. While making conversions, keep in mind that
1 tbsp = 3 tsp, and 1 cup = 16 tbsp.
If you end up with leftover pie crust, you can flatten it out to 1/4" - 1/2" thick and bake it along with the pie. It'll turn out like a biscuit.
And, without any further ado, the recipe:
Meat Pie for Dogs Using Caru Stew
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tbsp ground flax seed
- 2 tbsp coconut oil (or 1 tbsp coconut oil & 1 tbsp unsalted peanut butter)
- ice water
- Optional: 1 egg + 1 tbsp water
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Using a food processor or by mushing with a fork, combine the whole wheat flour, flax seed, and coconut oil (and peanut butter) until it resembles little crumbles.
- Mix in ice water (just water, not the ice) a little at a time, until large chunks form. It takes approximately 3 tbsp. of water. Using your hands, fold the dough until you can form a ball.
- To make the bottom crust, take a portion of the dough, sandwich it between 2 sheets of wax paper, and roll it into a circle 1/8" - 1/4" thick.
- Transfer the bottom crust to your greased pie pan and gently push it into the shape of the pan.
- Fill the bottom crust with Caru stew.
- Roll out a top crust the same way as in Step 4, and gently place it on top of your pie assembly.
- Trim the crusts to the desired size and seal the edges by pressing the two crusts together.
- Optional: Decorate the edges of the pie by indenting with a fork, pinching, etc.
- Optional: Beat the egg + 1 tbsp water, and brush a thin layer over the top crust.
- Cut vent holes in the top crust.
- Repeat Steps 4-12 if making multiple pies.
- Bake until crust is lightly golden brown, about 20-40 minutes, depending on size.
- Allow pies to cool completely before serving.
- Leftovers must be refrigerated, and may be reheated at 300°F for 10-20 minutes, depending on size. Again, let cool before serving.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Disclaimer: We received Caru Real Beef Stew for review purposes. We were not compensated for this post, and all opinions expressed are our own.
