Mushroom Hand Pies and Foraging Experience

These delicious Mushroom Hand Pies make a great light lunch or brunch option. They feature a light flaky pastry filled with sautéed mixed mushrooms and creamy brie cheese.

Mushrooms. You either love them or hate them. I happen to fall in the former category so I am always happy to creat new and tasty mushroom recipes to share with you. Like these Mushroom Barley Arancini or our favourite Garlic Herb Marinated Mushrooms.

Mushroom Foraging in Alberta

During an educational weekend (sponsored by The Lodgepole School of Wholistic Studies) celebrating the world of Fungi, I had the privilege to meet Robert Rogers. Robert is a naturopath and herbalist whose many talents include identifying mushrooms in Alberta.

It has been my dream for the last 5 years to learn more about Alberta mushrooms. I just hadn’t had any real opportunity to go foraging with an Alberta expert. When I heard that Robert was leading a forage on the last day of the fungi filled weekend, I made plans for hubby and myself to go along with the foraging group.

Then I began to wonder what I would bring for our lunch. It had to be portable and able to survive at room temperature (or slightly higher) until lunchtime, plus it had to be tasty and slightly healthy.

Mushroom Hand Pies are Handy

After a quick look in the fridge, I noticed the large container of mini portabellos that needed to be used up. There was also with Swiss chard and some old-ish brie cheese.

One look at the butter stock and I immediately thought of making Mushroom Hand Pies. I had the pastry made in the food processor in less than three minutes. The filling only takes about 10-15 minutes as well. So, while it seems like a lot of work, the finished hand pies only take a couple of hours to whip up.

How to Make Mushroom Hand Pies

For me, the quickest way to make pastry is to use my Food Processor Pastry Recipe. You can use your own method, if you prefer.

For the filling, place shallots and garlic in a food processor. Process them until they are small but not pasty. Add mushrooms and greens. Process until they are finely minced (see photo).

Transfer the filling to a sauté pan and sauté until the water has sweated out of the mushrooms. Cool mixture until room temperature.

Preheat oven to 375 F. Divide the pastry into eight equal portions. Roll each ball into a circle until the pastry reaches 1/4 inch in thickness.

Spread about one Tablespoon pesto over the entire pastry round, taking care to leave at least one centimeter clean around the edges. Place a slice of brie cheese on one half, then cover it with about 5 Tablespoons mushroom mixture.

Fold the pastry over the filling and flip over hand pie so that the cheese is on the bottom. Make a couple of slashes for the pie to breathe.

Brush egg wash over top of each hand pie. Arrange them on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375 F until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before eating OR eat cold in a picnic lunch the next day.

In the end, we had a delicious lunch to share (because I truly believe that the first rule of picnic-ing with others should be ‘always bring more than you really need’) and it’s a good thing too…because Robert had forgotten his lunch back in his hotel fridge. It made me so happy to share my Mushroom Hand Pies with someone who truly inspires me.

If you make these Mushroom Hand Pies, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest for my latest recipes. Also, if you do make this recipe, please tag me on Instagram, I’d love to see what you guys are making! Thank you so much for reading my blog.