steak, cheese and guiness pie

This is the Jamie Oliver recipe that I tried out. I like this pie in part because I can make the filling in advance - either the day before or to freeze - and also because the cheese and Guiness sets it apart from the usual steak pie. It gives it a depth of flavour and the cheese gives a creamy texture with a bit of a bite against the silky sauce and rich meat.

ingredients

olive oil
2 red onions - chopped
3 cloves of garlic
20g butter
2 carrots
6/7 closed cup mushrooms or 2-3 large field mushrooms
7-800g of stewing/casserole beef, cubed
2-3 sprigs of rosemary - leaves picked and chopped
salt and pepper
Can of Guiness - 300ml
2 tbsp plain flour
160g cheddar cheese [half this amount if you are going to freeze teh filling to use later]


Puff pastry

1 egg

method

Preheat oven to gas mark 5/190C

Heat a slosh of olive oil in a big pan that can go in the oven and has a lid

Fry the onions gently for 10 minutes


Add garlic, butter and carrots and stir

Stir in the mushrooms


Stir in the beef, rosemary, pinch of salt and teaspoon of pepper


Fry fast and hot fior 3-4 minutes to colour the beef a bit

Pour in the guiness, stir in the flour and then top up with water to cover


Cover the pan with a lid and place in the oven for 90 minutes

Remove from the oven and give it a good stir - and then put it back in the oven for another hour

Take out and add in half the cheese and stir until it melts into the sauce

You want a good thick sauce for the pie filling so if it is still a bit liquidy put it on the hob and reduce for a while

Let the filling cool - if you are freezing the filling to use at a later date let it cool completely - and if using straight away allow it to cool slightly

Dust the worksurface and roll out your pastry to fit over the top of your pie dish and about as thick as a pound coin

If you want a fully contained pie, roll out enough to line a buttered pie dish leaving enough over the edges to crimp around the lid

Tip your filling into your dish and then sprinkle teh remaining cheese over the top

Fit on your lid - if it is a lined pie then paste beaten egg along the edges of the lining so it sticks to the lid

Brush the lid with egg for a golden finish and if you like fashion some pastry decorations fixed on with beaten egg

This year I used my reindeer cookie cutter to decorate the pie - and I also got to use my Christmas present from my Mum and Dad - a cheery red and white spotted pie dish with matching flour shaker and pastry brush. I don't have a picture of the pie in the dish - we fell to eating it too quickly for that!