British Pie Week takes place every year on the first full week of March and this pie is just one of the many you can find there.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 500g cut into 4cm diced chuck steak, leave all fat on
- 3-4 tbsp plain flour
- 1 heaped tbsp tomato puree
- 2 small onions, very finely chopped
- 2 medium carrots, 1/2cm pieces
- 2 x 10g beef stock cubes, crumbled
- 3 tbsp Worcester sauce
- roughly 300mls of boiling water
- 200mls light bitter beer
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 500g short pastry
- 1 egg lightly beaten
Method
- Preheat the oven to 160°C, Gas 3.
- Using kitchen paper pat the meat dry, then dust lightly in the flour.
- Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a deep casserole dish or ovenproof pan, then add half the meat and cook until nicely browned all over. Repeat the process with the other half of the meat.
- Add the first lot of meat back to the pan.
- Then add the tomato puree, onions, carrots, stock cubes and Worcester sauce and really mix well.
- Add the beer and then enough boiling water to barely cover the stew.
- Season well with salt and pepper and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Cover with a tight-fitting lid and place in the pre heated oven and cook for 1½ hours, nice and gently, until the meat will fall part if pressed slightly.
- Once cooked, remove from the oven and cool, then chill well.
- Roll out the pastry and line a 24cm 3cm deep plate pie dish, allow 2cm extra.
- Cut off any excess then egg the pie dish top and use the excess to line the top of the dish.
- Add the cooled beef mixture and leave nice and proud.
- Lightly egg the pastry rim and lay a second disc of pastry over the top, making sure not to stretch the pastry.
- Thumb up the edges to seal well, then crimp for a nice finish..
- Brush well with beaten egg and make 2 small incisions in the centre.
- Bake at 180 C gas 4 for 35-40 minutes until well browned and hot.
- Serve with mash, extra gravy and for me pickled red cabbage or pickled walnuts
