When my friend Samm asked me if I had a shortcut for Scottish Beef Pies, I was stumped but determined. Naturally, when she came over to work on her wedding invitations today, I had a plan to figure these puppies out.

Sometimes there just isn’t a shortcut for a recipe. In this case, by using refrigerated pie crusts I saved the time and hassle of making my own dough which, let’s face it, I’m simply not going to make from scratch. However, considering this recipe yielded 8 good-sized pies, it was shockingly easy to do despite not being exactly a “shortcut” recipe.

The traditional Scotch recipe features pretty much JUST meat and potatoes. By adding additional vegetables it makes it a little less authentic but a bit healthier, if only marginally.

A warning before you proceed… If you follow the recipe, please don’t be alarmed when it appears your pie crust is MELTING BEFORE YOUR EYES. It’s okay. The crust still bakes up nice and golden, despite the fact that it’s being melted by the warm beef stew mixture.

INGREDIENTS (to make 8 pies; great for dinner parties or for having leftovers for freezing!):

• 2 lbs beef stew meat or other cut of beef, cubed
• 3 cloves fresh garlic, grated or pressed
• 1 leek, chopped
• Handful of baby carrots (I used about 10), diced
• Handful of fresh green beans, cut in bite-size pieces (sorry, I know these measurements aren’t particularly helpful)
• 2 golden potatoes (or other waxy potato), cubed
• 2 cups water + beef bouillon (I prefer Penzey’s beef bouillon, or Better Than Bouillon)
• 3 tbsp flour + 1/4 cup water
• Worcestershire Sauce to taste (don’t buy anything but Lea & Perrins)
• 4 Ready Made Pie Crusts, each one split it half and rolled into a ball (8 balls total)
• 1 egg

Marinate beef in worcestershire, salt, pepper and garlic for at least an hour. Brown in saucepan with chopped leek (no added oil needed, most likely). Add water + bouillon (enough to make it look like a nice broth… a can of beef broth would do just fine here too), carrots, beans and potatoes and cook until potatoes and carrots are tender but not too soft. Add flour+water mixture to thicken sauce and cook just awile longer, until sauce thickens.

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray like Mazola Pure Cooking Spray. Roll each piece of dough into a rough circle and lay it on the cookie sheet. Spoon a portion of the stew mixture (roughly 1/2 cup) onto half of the dough. Fold over and crimp edges so it looks like a calzone. Again, don’t be alarmed if the dough looks like it’s melting. If by some miracle you manage to get it folded without breaking it and without a hole melting into it, cut the top a bit with a knife to vent.

Place cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Scramble egg and egg white in a bowl. Using a pastry brush (I am in love with my silicone pastry brush), brush top of each pie. Bake an additional 10–15 minutes, until crusts are golden.