Snack · In Afrikaans: Braaipastei

Braai pie

Name: Braai pie
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: South African
Ingredients: 2 rolls puff pastry, defrosted; 50 g butter, melted; 1 egg, beaten; 400 g boerewors, pre-cooked and sliced; 250 g mature Cheddar, coarsely grated; 200 g feta, crumbled; 400 g chakalaka, tinned or homemade; 300 g spinach, cooked and squeezed dry

Puff pastry filled with wors, cheese and chakalaka, baked golden in a hinged grid over medium coals. Proof that pastry belongs at a fire.

The braai pie is not an old tradition but one of the few genuine inventions of the last twenty years. It works because a hinged grid is exactly what puff pastry needs: two surfaces holding it and heat from both sides. It now turns up on every second grid in South Africa, usually as a starter while the meat waits.

Prep: 20 min
On the fire: 15 min
Serves: 6
Effort: easy

Snack

Braaipastei

Medium

How hot

Medium

You can hold your hand over the grid for 6 seconds · ≈ 175–200 °C

Every coal stage explained →

Which wood

Rooikrans

spicy, resinous

Ingredients

Serves

This one scales only so far — the pot and the timing stay as they are.

Units

One ingredient is hard to find abroad — Boerewors. What to use instead →

Tick them off — the ticks stay on this device.

Pastry

2 rolls puff pastry, defrosted Defrost slowly in the fridge, not in the microwave. Pastry thawed too fast goes soggy and tears in the grid.
50 g butter, melted
1 egg, beaten

Filling

400 g boerewors, pre-cooked and sliced Leftovers from the last braai are ideal. Raw wors will not cook through before the pastry burns.
250 g mature Cheddar, coarsely grated
200 g feta, crumbled
400 g chakalaka, tinned or homemade
300 g spinach, cooked and squeezed dry The spinach is not decoration but structure — it sits as a barrier between filling and pastry and keeps the moisture out.

Method

Oil the hinged grid

Grease or spray the grid thoroughly. Puff pastry sticks, and nothing ruins a braai pie more reliably than trying to scrape it off the bars.
Lay down the first sheet

Roll one sheet of pastry straight onto the bottom half of the grid. Leave two centimetres clear all round — that is where it gets sealed later.
Spinach first

Spread half the spinach over the pastry. It has to be dry; wet spinach soaks the base before the pastry has set.
Layer it up

Cheddar, feta, chakalaka and the sliced wors on top. Do not build too high — the grid has to close without cutting into the pastry.
Lid on

The rest of the spinach on top, then the second sheet of pastry, pressing the edges firmly together all round. Brush with egg.
Bake over medium coals

Close the grid and set it high over medium coals, six seconds on the hand test. Bake for about fifteen minutes, turning every two or three minutes, until golden on both sides.
Let it stand five minutes

Off the fire, open the grid and leave it for five minutes. Cut it straight away and the melted cheese runs out.

Tips

The usual mistake is too much filling. If the grid will not close without pressure, there is too much in there.
Coals that are too hot burn the pastry before the cheese melts. Six seconds on the hand test, and hang the grid a notch higher.
Sweet version for the last of the coals: puff pastry, sliced apple, cinnamon sugar and a few squares of chocolate. Ten minutes and pudding is done.
It works vegetarian too — leave out the wors, add fried mushrooms and more chakalaka.

Most things that go on a braai are old. The braai pie is not: it is an idea that only works because a hinged grid now hangs in every household.

What makes it so useful is the timing. It goes on when the coals are already fading and the meat is not ready yet — precisely the half hour when nothing else happens and everyone starts getting hungry.

It is puff pastry over an open fire, and yes, that works. The trick is not the filling but the distance from the coals: hang it high, turn it often, do not get impatient.

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