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Although I adapted a Russian recipe for this, I was inspired to try it by a recent viewing of Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. If you've seen that, you'll be relieved that I didn't go for 100% authenticity. If you haven't, don't worry about it.

What you'll need:

pie crust mix (enough for a 2-crust pie)
Half a pound of ground meat (beef, pork, whatever you like)
1 medium-sized baking potato
1/2 of a medium-sized white onion
1 egg
salt, pepper, and other spices as desired
a muffin pan and something to grease it with

Grease the muffin pan well. You want the pies to slip right out of it, otherwise they can get torn up.

Chop up the onion and potato well. Very well; you want this stuff to cook thoroughly, and for the juices to mix and be absorbed. Put it in a bowl and add the ground meat. Mix it well, and add any spices you like. I use about half a teaspoon of pepper.

Make the pie crust mix according to the instruction on the package. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On waxed paper or some other surface, roll a piece of dough into a thin sheet and line a cup of the muffin pan with it. Don't stretch it too thin; you don't want these to tear. Fold the corners of the rolled-out dough in, drop it in so the center touches the bottom of the cup, then moosh the dough against the sides of the cup. It should hang out over the edges of the cup on all sides. Fill the dough-lined cup with the meat mixture. Roll another piece of dough flat and use it to cover the filling. Press the dough together around the edges of the cup, then cut just outside of the cup, making sure to leave some of the pressed-together area intact. Retrieve the scraps of dough and begin with the next cup. You should have enough for a dozen mini-pies.

When these are all done, make a decent-sized hole in the top of each one with a knife. Beat the egg in a cup and brush it over the tops of the pies as a glaze. Bake the pies for 40 minutes at 350 degree. If the cups were properly greased, after the pies cool you should be able to carefully insert a butter knife a few times around the edge of each cup and twist the pies right out.

Variation: I've also made full-sized pies using this recipe. It tastes the same, it's just shaped differently. Easier to cook if you have pre-formed pie crusts, but it doesn't automatically come in little bento-ready servings.