Chunky Beef Pie
We’re having a lovely chilly winter in Sydney. And it’s perfect for making hearty casseroles. So why not turn that casserole into a beautiful beef pie? A homemade beef pie is a thing of joy! Warming, comforting and pretty easy to make if you use store-bought butter puff pastry. There are some good brands out there – make sure you buy all butter pastry, it really does make a difference.
And the filling for the pie is a variation on my trusty beef casserole recipe - see Beef and Ale Casserole post.
For the beef filling
500g shin (gravy) beef or chuck steak or blade steak
1 tablespoon plain flour
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium brown onions, chopped
3 shallots, chopped
2 x 400g tins whole peeled tomatoes
1 large tomato, roughly chopped
1 tinful of water (use the peeled tomatoes tin for this)
200ml red wine
1 tablespoon molasses
1 dessertspoon Worcestershire sauce
Sea salt, black pepper
A bay leaf
A few sprigs thyme
A few sprigs rosemary
You will also need
375g all butter puff pastry
1 free-range egg, beaten, for glaze
Preheat oven to 160° C, 140° C fan. Place the beef in a ziploc bag with the flour, close the bag, and shake it to coat the beef pieces in the flour. Heat a heavy-based cast iron casserole on the stovetop. Add two tablespoons of oil to the casserole.
Add half of the beef pieces and cook for a minute or two to brown the meat, turning to make sure all sides get the heat. This is to caramelise the meat. Remove the pieces from the casserole and set aside. Add the other half of the beef and caramelise in the same way, removing from the casserole once browned.
Add the other tablespoon of oil and the chopped onions and shallots. Fry over medium heat until the onions and shallots are softened, about 3-5 minutes. Return the meat to the casserole.
Add the tinned tomatoes, roughly breaking them up into the casserole. Add the chopped fresh tomato. Using one of the tomato tins, add a tinful of water. Stir in the red wine. Stir in the molasses and Worcestershire sauce and season with sea salt and black pepper. Tie up the bay leaf, thyme and rosemary with a piece of string to make a bouquet garnis, and put it into the casserole mixture. Making sure the mixture is simmering, carefully remove the casserole to the preheated oven.
Cook for about 3 hours or until the beef is tender and almost falling apart. You should check after 2 hours, in case the casserole has cooked a bit dry. If so, you can add some more water. As a general rule, it’s pretty hard to overcook these cuts of beef, so 2 1/2 – 3 hours is usually about the right time.
Remove the casserole from the oven, remove the bouquet garnis, and cool to room temperature.
Making the Pie
Turn the oven heat up to 220°C, 200°C fan. You will need a pie dish, tin or mould, 20 or 21cm in diameter.
Take the puff pastry from the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface until you have a pastry sheet big enough to cut a circle slightly larger than the diameter of the pie dish. Using a sharp knife, cut the pastry circle. It needs to cover the top of the pie comfortably.
Now, it’s time to fill the pie. You won’t need all the filling – fill with enough of the meat mixture to fit comfortably into the dish.
Take the round of pastry and fit it over the filling in the pie dish, making sure you have enough pastry to overlap the top of the pie. You can always trim the excess.
Cut a slit in the top of the pie for air to escape.
To get that lovely layered pastry effect on the pie, take a small sharp knife and “knock up” the pastry around the edge. Hold the knife blade horizontally to the cut edge and make small tapping cuts all around the pastry. This helps the pastry separate into layers.
If you wanted to be fancy, you could also make some pastry leaves for the top of the pie.
Brush the top of the pie all over with the beaten egg before putting the pie into the hot oven. Cook for 10 minutes, then turn oven down to 200° C, 180° C fan, and bake for a further 30 minutes or until golden brown on top. Remove from the oven. Leave to cool for a few minutes before digging in.