Wrights Meat & Potato Pie

Description: A blend of prime minced beef, diced potatoes an a hint of seasoning encased in a tasty shortcrust pasty.

Cost: £1.29 for 1 pie (1 serving)

Cooking: 40minutes on number 4 from frozen. Only 25mins if you cook from chilled.

Verdict: First impressions? This was another emergency pie fix. Id been dreaming of a pie all morning, so had to nip out to the shop at lunchtime and buy one to satisfy those cravings!

Since I was away from home, I just had this pie on its own. I figured it had potatoes in it so it shouldn't be too far from my normal benchmark tests.

Getting the pie out of the packet and I was impressed. It was a nice round pie, and very deep, which promised a good amount of filling inside.

Cutting it open and there was indeed a very nice amount of filling. More than you`d normally expect in a lower priced budget pie. It was nice to see also that they hadn't scrimped on the meat. Sometimes you find in such a pie there would be more potato than mince, presumably to save on manufactoring costs.

The filling looked very similar to what you`d find in a Cornish pastie. Mince, gravy and nice chunks of potato. But, this filling didn't have the peppery taste you normally get in a pastie. The mince itself was also quite nice, no crissle or hard bits - again, a nice surprise compared to other such corner shop bought pies / pasties.

The pastry was thick, and I think that was the only criticism I have here, in that it was very filling. There may have been just a tad too much pastry, but sometimes its better to have too much than not enough!

All in all, it was a good pie. Better than some, but not as good as the other Wrights pies Ive tried, such as their chicken / mushroom or their steak / kidney - both of which seem to have more runny gravy and thinner pastry. 

Calorie count is 223 calories per 100g and as before, i cant find on the packet how much the pie actually weighs, so calories per pie could be anything!.

Rating?   5 out of 10.

ASDA Minced Steak & Mushy Peas

Description: Tender British minced beef and onions in a rich beef gravy with a layer of mushy peas wrapped in egg glazed Golden shortcrust pasty.

Cost: £1.48 for 1 pie (1 serving)

Cooking: 40minutes on number 4 from frozen. Less if you cook from fresh.

Verdict: First impressions? Saw this when I was in Asda the other week and thought it sounded like an interesting combing. Certainly one I wouldn't have thought of. Minced Steak & Mushy Peas? Ive got to try that.

Cooking time was a bit longer than some pies, but common for those with a short crust top.

I cooked it up with the usual potatoes & peas.

On the plate, the pie looked good. Cutting it open and as frequently seems to happen I was instantly disappointed. The picture on the box shows nice small lumps of meat - akin to the size you`d get in a packet of cat food - along with some gravy. The reality is you get virtually no gravy and a few small pieces of mince. Well I assume it was some sort of mince, it actually tasted like someone had minced up a bit of grisle or fat. No taste at all.

The mushy peas were a layer on top of the pie and I think there was more peas than meat. Some of the peas were mushy, others were whole peas. Still, i mushed them up a bit and they were quite nice.

The best bit on this pie by far was the pastry. The shortcrust was cracking. Really crunchy, tasty, Couldn't fault it. It was just a shame the filling was such a let down.

I certainly wouldn't ever buy this pie again.

Calorie count is 604 calories per pie.

Rating?   2.5 out of 10. (Only scores this high because of the lovely pastry)