Okay… So my eldest has decided she LOVES pies. So naturally I took it upon myself to come up with the best pie recipe I could muster. This one is most definitely a weekend recipe but there is something so homey about being in the kitchen cooking pies. The beef needs slow cooking but once the filling is done it’s quite quick to cook in the oven as its just the pastry that needs browning. My family loves football, I do not. But I do love cooking so this is perfect for getting my cook on in the Winter months. We’ve mostly made this Steak and Guinness Pie using a pie dish and cooking a family sized pie but recently we invested in the Sunbeam pie cooker and it’s even better. Makes the finish product look more professional, everyone gets a personal pie and the process is just fun. Enjoy.

Steak and Guiness Pie

Ingredients

• 2 onions diced
• olive oil to fry
• 2 sticks celery diced
• 3 carrots diced
• 1-2 sprigs rosemary (thyme or bayleaf can substitute)
• 1 kg diced beef
• 1 heaped Tb celtic sea salt
• 2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 3 cloves garlic crushed
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup mushrooms chopped roughly
• 1 can Guinness (or crushed mutti tomatoes)
• 1/2 cup flour (1/3 was too runny)

Method

1. Fry onion in oil until translucent (medium heat, try not to brown onion too much).
2. Add carrot, celery and rosemary continue stirring frequently until just tender. Set aside.
3. Using the same pan, salt the diced beef then brown the beef in olive oil until it gets some good colour. (It helps to bring the beef to near room temperature before cooking to stop it from broiling).
4. Add the onion, celery, carrot mix as well as the pepper, crushed garlic, nutmeg, mushrooms and can of Guinness then simmer on low for 2-3 hours or until the meat falls apart and liquid has evaporated.
5. Allow mix to come to room temperature and stir in flour.

If using a pie dish, blind bake the base, then add the filling and top.

I actually prefer using puff pastery for the top and bottom.