Homemade meat bites for Lunchbox

As the school time is just to come, we again try to incorporate the lunchbox living on the go for the kids. As we all know lunchbox asks special meals. Well, this Homemade meat bites for Lunchbox is a must prepare one.

These bites use Bolognaise sauce left over. But to make the real bite taste unique we use a flavor trick: sauté garlic, onion, celery and bacon to mix into pork mince Bolognaise sauce.

Notes:

1. Real pork– not a sausage mince which is a mix of questionable ingredients – query how much is actually meat. Buy pure pork mince.
2. Bacon – It’s not just about adding bacon for the sake of it. The plain fact is that bacon is salty and juicy and when you chop it up finely and mix it through the pork, it makes it so much tastier!
3. Garlic, onion and celery – when you saute these together slowly, they become sweet and form the flavor base. The sweetness and extra flavor it adds to the filling is just incomparable to just mixing in some raw chopped onion into the mince, which is what many standard recipes do. This adds moisture to the filling without making it watery.
4. No grated veggies – we do not tell not to sneak any veggies in, but what grated veggies are the main reason for soggy pastry bases, even if we squeeze excess liquid out. There is a time and place for hidden veggies. Meat bites is not a case for that.
5. Fennel – because fennel and pork are great mates, like basil and tomato. So include it! Heat small fry pan over medium heat. Add fennel. Shake pan and toast for 1 – 2 minutes, until you can smell the fragrance of the fennel seeds.
6. Breadcrumbs – For the fillings, they make the filling less dense, more moist.
7. To make ahead: Best assembled, cut, then frozen unbaked. Place in an airtight container in single layers with baking paper between each layer. Brush with egg wash (optional – could just spray with oil, helps make it golden). Bake from frozen for 40 minutes.

We used 2 versions for wrapper:

1. Flat bread from the fridge – fill the flat bread, roll-out and bake
2. Store bought thin pastry – comes in sheets are 40 x 30cm. Arrange for sheets one over the other, set the filling and roll. Cut them in half so you have five 40 x 15 cm rectangles.