Gluten free pies and gluten free pastry in general can end up sticky, crumbly, chewy, brittle or a bizarre combination of all of the above. That's why I have my firm gluten free cooking rule of not messing with that which others can make well for me!
When it comes to gluten free pastry, there is a good reason that cooks generally use wheat flour. Wheat flour has gluten in it. Gluten makes foods flexible and pliable and generally makes baked goods behave themselves in predictable and well, edible ways. Without gluten (ie. without wheat flour) cooking tricky products like pastry becomes much more of a challenge. Cooking it is sort of like trying to make a souffle when you are a beginner cook. There is the possibility of success but a really high chance of failure too.
Silly Yaks seem to have mastered making pastry and then filling it with a whole range of yummy tasting fillings. And the best bit is, I don't even have to clean up the kitchen afterwards!
First off the shelf in our test run of gluten free pies was the Shepherd's Pie. A shepherd's pie is good, old fashioned comfort food. It's one of those tastes to come home too after a long day, or to look forward to during a morning of hard work. Plonk on a good dolloping of tomato sauce and you have a ready made meal to really enjoy. Great pastry, nice filling and even onion free for anyone who is experimenting with life on a low fructose diet.
Surprisingly, it is possible for the same person to enjoy the comfort food taste of Shepherd's pie and then move on to the Pumpkin and Basil pie and enjoy that too. Granted, there was much more of the tiny baby bunny bites for the first mouthful or so. But after that it was full steam ahead as the flavour hit. Life on a gluten free diet can have an element of sameness to it, so a bit of a change now and again has a lot going for it.
Line up a row of kids and feed them a plate of party sausage rolls without mentioning the gluten free side of things - just to see what happens. The result - turn around for a moment and then look back to discover the plate has already been half eaten. Now kids don't pull any punches when it comes to food taste testing. If it is good, they eat it. If it isn't, they spit it halfway across the room with a resounding 'YUCK!' So when I see gluten free sausage rolls disappearing at the same speed as the regular variety, I know things are pretty OK. And great for taking to a party with a child who needs gluten free food - just heat them up and join in the party fun with everyone else. So if you're after gluten free pies which suits a smaller size diet and hand, give the sausage rolls a spin instead.