Diana Henry's recipe has a shortcrust pastry base and a puff pastry top so is a bit of work (though the puff pastry is bought). You can, if you prefer, use a puff pastry top and forego the bottom layer but this version is more substantial and satisfying. Serve with mash and buttered Savoy cabbage.
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Ingredients
1kg British beef braising steak, cut into cubes about 2cm square
1½ tbsp groundnut oil, or beef dripping
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and cubed
¼ small celeriac, peeled and cubed
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 L beef stock
2 bay leaves
4 sprig/s thyme
15g butter, at room temperature
15g plain flour
320g all-butter puff pastry sheet
2 British Blacktail Medium Free Range Eggs, 1 lightly beaten, 1 separated and the white lightly beaten (reserve the yolk)
For the shortcrust pastry
300g plain flour, plus more for rolling
150g butter, chilled and cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing
1 British Blacktail Medium Free Range Egg yolk
Method
Blot the beef with kitchen paper to dry it for
better browning. Heat the oil (or dripping) in a
large heavy-bottomed pan and cook the beef
over a high heat in 2-3 batches. You want good
colour on it. Scoop the beef out into a bowl
with a slotted spoon as soon as each batch is
ready. When all the beef is browned, add the
onion, carrot and celeriac to the pan and sauté
over a medium heat for 4-5 minutes, until the
onion is beginning to colour.
Stir in the tomato purée, then cook for
1 minute. Add the beef, with any juices, the
stock, bay leaves, thyme and seasoning. Bring
the mixture to the boil, then turn the heat to
low. Cover and cook for 1 hour 30 minutes
to 2 hours, removing the lid for the last
30-40 minutes, to help the juices reduce.
Remove the thyme and bay leaves. Mash the
butter and flour together, then slowly whisk
bits of this into the beef to thicken it slightly.
Once the meat is ready, cool then chill.
To make the shortcrust pastry, put the flour,
butter and a pinch of salt into a food processor
and, using the pulse button, process until you
have pea-sized lumps. Add the egg yolk and
process again. The pastry might come together,
or you may need between 1-3 tbsp cold water
– add only as much as you need. Pull the pastry
together, flatten into a disc and wrap. Chill for
30 minutes.
Butter a 27cm pie dish with a depth of
4cm. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured
piece of baking parchment to a circle, about
30cm diameter. Use the parchment to move
the pastry, then line the base and the sides,
pressing the pastry into position. Cut off the
excess all the way round. Put this in the coldest
part of your fridge for 40 minutes.
Heat the oven to 200ºC, gas mark 6 and put
a baking sheet into it. Put some greaseproof
paper on top of the pastry, scrunching it up so
it covers the base and sides. Put baking beans
– or regular dried beans – on top of the paper.
Bake for 12 minutes. Remove the paper and
beans and bake for 5 minutes more. Leave to
cool. Paint the base with egg white and put it
back into the oven for 3 minutes. Leave the
pastry case to cool.
Using baking parchment, roll the puff pastry
until large enough to cover the top of the pie
with a little overhang. Put this on a baking sheet
and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Fill the pastry case with the beef. Gently
paint the lip of the pastry with beaten egg.
Put the puff pastry on top, pressing the edges
together all the way around so the lid and the pastry case is sealed. Trim off the excess pastry.
Using the tines of a fork, press the pastries
together. Brush the top with beaten egg and
make a few tiny slits in the middle, so the steam
can escape. Slide the pie onto the baking sheet
in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, until
puffed up and golden and hot in the middle.
Nutritional
Typical values per serving when made using specific products in recipe
Energy
3,663kJ/ 876kcals
Fat
47g
Saturated Fat
28g
Carbohydrates
64g
Sugars
6.4g
Fibre
5.1g
Protein
46g
Salt
1.1g
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