Leftovers Remade: Leftover Hand Pies

This was another dish I made for my post-Thanksgiving Leftovers Remade party.  I think that this was the one I was most excited about, because they took the most work (after all, yesterday's casserole was much-loved but really didn't take a ton of work; I almost felt guilty accepting compliments when all I did was take the vegetables, turkey and gravy that other people had brought to Thanksgiving, and threw them into a baking dish!).

These little gems are hand pies.  They're made from homemade herbed pie dough and stuffed with whatever you feel like stuffing them with!  Use up those leftovers stuffing and veggies and turkey (or leave out the turkey for the vegetarians!).  Instead of gravy, these guys stay moist from leftover cranberry sauce, which adds a little tart sweetness to the rich savory little pies.  I think these were so much fun to put together, but even more fun for my Leftovers Remade partygoers to eat!  If I am remembering correctly, these pies were the first things to go; I'd say they were the most successful out of the three recipes I made.  If you have an overfull refrigerator, you might want to try these little pies today!

Recipe:

leftover hand pies
adapted from leftover Pop-Tarts from Parsley Sage Sweet
makes 9 - 12 hand pies

Ingredients:
for pie dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage (I had to use 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
about 6 tablespoons ice water
for filling:
1 cup chopped turkey
9 heaping tablespoons stuffing
9 tablespoons cranberry sauce
9 tablespoons of each leftover veggie you want to use (I used peas, squash, mashed potatoes, etc.)
1 egg, beaten

Instructions:

1) Make the pie crust first: Blend the first 6 ingredients in a food processor until herbs are very finely chopped  Add butter.  Pulse processor until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Transfer to a large bowl.

2) Using a fork, mix in enough ice water to form moist clumps.  You want it to look raggedy with lumps of butter.  Gather dough into a piece of plastic wrap and gently flatten it into a rectangle.  Wrap tightly and chill 30 minutes.

3) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Remove dough from the refrigerator and let sit for a few minutes until workable.  Place chilled dough on a lightly floured work surface.  Cut out as many small circles or rectangles as you can.  Wrap and refrigerate dough scraps, taking them out and reworking as you go until you run out of dough.

4) Brush half of your circles with lightly beaten egg.  Let sit until egg is tacky instead of wet and slippery, about 5 minutes.

5) Spread 1 tablespoon stuffing over each of the egg-brushed circles, leaving about 1/2-inch or a bit more clean along each edge so you will be able to seal them.  Top the stuffing with 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped turkey, and 1 tablespoon of cranberry sauce.  Feel free to add around 1 tablespoon of any other leftover vegetable you have.  Spread each layer so it covers up to the clean borders.  Repeat with the rest of the egg-washed dough halves.

6) Top each filled circle of dough with another circle, not brushed with egg.  Press down the edges to seal it well, then press the tines of a fork all around the edges to seal.  Repeat with remaining pies.

7) At this point, you may freeze them on a baking sheet and then place in a bag and freeze up to 3 months.  Or, to eat now, gently lift pies and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Brush each pie with remaining beaten egg.  Pole three rows of holes with a fork to vent the pies.  Place baking sheet n the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

8) Remove baking sheet from refrigerator and place in oven.  Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, until light golden brown.  You can freeze them at this point as well.