Mushroom, Bacon & Egg Breakfast Pie

A New Zealand classic, the Bacon & Egg pie, gets a delicious makeover in this Mushroom, Bacon & Egg Breakfast Pie!

Bacon and egg pies are a classic in New Zealand and Australia. That flaky pastry, those golden-yellow egg yolks, fat chunks of salty bacon and that heavenly smell of baking pies, are as much a part of the Kiwi identity as those sprawling, spectacular farming landscapes, or a pavlova for that matter. And as much a part of the Kiwi food culture as burgers are here in the US. My mother used to make these a lot for me when I was a kid, and these would often be my school lunch. And even now as an adult, I still love making these pies and they truly are near and dear to me.

While the classic meat pie with tomato sauce (ketchup) is very popular, the bacon and egg pie is a close second and is my personal favourite of the two. A hard boiled egg (or scrambled) and bacon in a classic pie, was the gas that fueled many days of my student life. The version I’m sharing with you guys today however, is so much better, and truly is the ultimate breakfast pie (here’s another version of this classic bacon and egg breakfast pie!).

In addition to the bacon and eggs, these pies have been jacked up with delicious sauteed mushrooms and a generous dose of thyme and parsley. It’s safe to say that my student self would have loved these so much better than the bacon & egg pies I used to get from the university cafeteria.

I made these pies using homemade puff pastry that I infused with cayenne pepper for extra flavour and bite. I will share the recipe for that puff pastry at some point in the near future, but you’re welcome to use store-bought puff pastry OR make your own using my recipe here for rough puff pastry.

You can make these ahead of time, freeze them and then bake them in time for breakfast, brunch of even dinner! Really, that “breakfast pie” is just a suggestion. These taste so damn good, I wouldn’t fault you if you wanted to have them for all three meals of the day.  Plus, because they puff up really well, it’s okay if they don’t look completely neat. These are actually meant to look quite rustic. I didn’t even cover up and seal the pie completely, because I STUFFED it with mushrooms, bacon and eggs, so it needed space to expand and cook properly. After all, that rustic look is all part of the “home-made” charm right?

And of course it doesn’t hurt that your house will smell of butter, thyme and bacon and all kinds of baking goodness!

This pie honestly doesn’t need anything else. If you’d like to, you could maybe have a salad on the side. But definitely no tomato ketchup please. Seriously, I will smack your hand if you bring that ketchup anywhere near this pie!

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4.84 from 6 votes

Mushroom, Bacon & Egg Breakfast Pie

Author: Dini K.

Difficulty: Intermediate

Servings: 4 individual pies

Print Rate

Ingredients:

• ▢ 1 lb / 450g ready made puff pastry
• ▢ 12 oz/ 340g bacon roughly cut in to 1 cm strips (1 lb packet is OK too)
• ▢ 7 oz / 200g brown mushrooms baby bella / swiss brown, thinly sliced
• ▢ Leaves of 3-4 sprigs of thyme
• ▢ 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
• ▢ 1 tbsp cornflour
• ▢ 1 tsp chili flakes less if you prefer less heat
• ▢ 1 tsp paprika
• ▢ 1 tsp black pepper
• ▢ salt to taste
• ▢ 2 tsp spicy mustard
• ▢ ¼ cup milk any kind is OK
• ▢ 8 small - medium eggs
• ▢ 1 egg lightly beaten - for the egg wash

Instructions:

• Heat a pan on medium-high heat. Add the bacon when the pan is hot and fry till the edges start to brown.
• Drain the bacon fat, but do not discard it. Add mushrooms, paprika, chili flakes, pepper and thyme and cook until the mushrooms start to turn a golden colour at the edges. Add salt to taste (this will depend on the salt content of the bacon).
• Add about 2 tbsp of the bacon fat (or oil or butter) and sprinkle the cornflour over the bacon-mushroom, and mix through.
• Add the parsley, milk and mustard and mix well. Let the mixture thicken up slightly (which should take only a couple of minutes). Remove from the heat and let it cool completely.

To make the pies

• Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C. Place a baking sheet in the oven to preheat as well. Grease 4 pie tins that are 5 inches/13 cm in diameter.
• Roll out the puff pastry until it's about 3 mm thick. If you have puff pastry sheets that are thicker than 3mm, roll them out to this thickness.
• Cut out circles slightly larger than the top of the pie tins (this will be to cover the pies).
• Line the four pie tins with the rest of the puff pastry, and fill ⅔ of the way with the cooled bacon and mushroom filling. Break two of the eggs on top and sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper. Use a fork to lightly mix the egg whites with the filling.
• Place the puff pastry circle that you cut out earlier over your pie and press it down gently over the edges to seal it rouhly. You can seal it using a fork if you like.
• Brush the tops with some egg wash and bake in preheated oven, on the preheated baking sheet until the pastry is golden coloured and has puffed up (about 15-20 minutes).
• Remove from the oven and let them cool down a little.
• Serve while warm.

Tips & Tricks

Notes on freezing - If you'd like to freeze your pies before baking, I would recommend adding half of the filling, then add the eggs next (break the yolk), and then top up with the rest of the filling. Alternatively, you could add cooked scrambled eggs (if you don't like freezing your pies with raw eggs, but mind you, your filling will come out a little drier this way). Remember to add salt and pepper to the eggs too. You can bake them from frozen, but this will take longer. I would suggest thawing them out in the fridge overnight.

If you're baking the pies the following day, you can just keep them in the fridge, covered in plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out.

Notes on Variations - You can add some grated cheese along with the filling for some cheesy goodness.
Substitute thyme with any herb of your choice.
Or even substitute the bacon with cooked chicken.

“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”

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Since I sauteed the bacon and the mushrooms together, the flavours really do come together! The pie filling is deliciously creamy, almost like you cooked the filling in a creamy mushroom base.

The eggs are fantastic too. When you break the egg over the filling, you can imagine how the egg white disperses through the filling and mixes with the bacon and mushrooms while the egg yolk also soaks up all the flavour. And if you have any fussy kids (or adults) who aren’t particularly fond of egg yolk, consider lightly scrambling the eggs and adding it to the filling instead of whole eggs. You could even sprinkle some cheese on top if you like. The flavours will be amazing regardless.

I can tell you right now that taking these pictures required a healthy dose of self-restraint. I was genuinely concerned that the pies wouldn’t last long enough for me to take pictures of them. That smell when you take these out of the oven and then when you see that beautiful flaky pastry and the egg yolks peaking through…

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