Good Old Steak and Guinness Pie

Serves 6

680g/11/2lb stewing beef, diced
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 heaped tablespoons flour
olive oil
1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
4 sticks of celery, washed and roughly chopped
2 parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped
1 handful of fresh mixed herbs (rosemary, thyme and bay), leavespicked

565ml/1 pint Guinness
2 x 400g/14oz tins of tomatoes
1 x 500g/1lb 2oz pack of puff pastry
1 egg, beaten

This is nice and easy to make as all you have to do is put a puff pastry lid on top of a dish filled with your stewed meat. I never serve anything else with these pies but if you want to, boiled potatoes and steamed greens always hit the spot.

Method

Season your beef generously with salt and pepper, sprinkle with the flour and toss around until coated. Heat 2 or 3 lugs of olive oil in a large casserole-type pan and fry your meat, in 2 batches if need be, until golden brown. Add the onion and fry for 1 more minute, then add the carrot, celery, parsnips and herbs. Fry for a further 4 minutes then pour in your Guinness. Add the tinned tomatoes and bring to the boil. Stir around, then simmer for around 2 hours or until the meat is really tender. The sauce should be nice and thick with an intensely tasty flavour. Season. At this point you could serve it as a stew with mash, or it will keep really well for a good 5 days in the fridge (while improving in flavour at the same time).

To make the pies, preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas 5. Put your meat filling into an appropriately-sized baking dish or dishes. I like to make small individual pies - any high-sided round ovenproof bowls are fine. Roll out your pastry, dusting with flour as you go, until 0.5cm/W inch thick. Cut out 6 circles about 1cm/1/2 inch bigger than the tops of your bowls. Brush the rims of your bowls with beaten egg, then place the pastry circles on top, squashing the excess pastry down the outside of the bowls to secure. Lightly score the top of the pastry in a criss-cross fasion and brush with more of the beaten egg. Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 45 minutes until golden and bubbling.