Beef, red wine and onion puff pastry pie
Moving on, then, because frankly, a girl’s got to eat, even when she’s packing. Here’s a nice, warming, saying-goodbye-to-Ireland kind of pie. This is the kind of pie to eat with a big pile of mashed potato whilst looking out of your window at the rain driving horizontally across the garden, and feeling smug that you’re not out there, but in here with a big piece of pie.
So. You’ll need a pack of puff pastry (or flaky pastry, or whatever you want to call it). Coincidentally, being a pea-brained fool, I accidentally turned the freezer off before leaving the house last week, and this is the only thing that survived. Oh and you’ll need some nice beef: let’s not be poncy here, it’s going to be cooked for a long time, so stewing steak is absolutely fine. Here we go, then:
2-3 tbsp plain flour
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
Stewing beef: (500 – 600g should do you for an average family)
Large glass red wine
500ml stock
Pack of defrosted puff pastry
Milk or egg wash
So firstly, spoon the flour onto a plate. Season generously and then toss your pieces of stewing beef (trimmed to remove any excess fat) in the flour so that they’re well covered.
Leave them to one side while you heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions, just enough so that they’ve got a bit of colour. You can remove them with a slotted spoon while you cook the meat, if you like, but I tend to just leave them in there and add a bit more oil. Now, fry the floured meat pieces, just a handful at a time – don’t overcrowd the pan, you want them to sizzle and caramelise – until they’re a bit browned on all sides. Remove each batch to a warm plate before frying the next.
When they’re all done and removed, whop in the glass of wine and allow to bubble away while you attack the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon and remove all those lovely tasty bits that were left on the bottom. You get a lovely alcoholic facial sauna here too. Bonus.
Now add back in your steak, onions and the stock. Stir, cover, and then just put it in the oven and forget it for an hour or so. Gas 4/180 should be fine.
Next, roll out the pastry and cut it to the size of your pie dish (remember to allow extra for the sides). We like a soggy bottom (oh stop), so I cut out two circles and line the pie dish with pastry as well, but if you prefer just a crisp crust, by all means leave the bottom unsullied.
Now, when the meat’s had a good hour, pour the whole lot into your pie dish (lined with pastry, or unlined as you wish) and top with your second circle, crimping the edges to keep the whole lot together.
Now, brush the top with milk, or egg and milk, or just egg, and put back in the oven to puff up in a crispy and delicious fashion for another half an hour or so.
Serve with tons of creamy mash and some nice winter veg. Maybe some buttered cabbage, or some lovely sweet parsnips.
Oh, and don’t bother trying to show off by printing the letters ‘PIE’ into your pastry. It disappears when you cook it. Trust me on this one.
31 Responses to “Beef, red wine and onion puff pastry pie”
Leave a Reply
Delicious!
I could eat it now.
Define “large glass of red wine”!!….when I made your beef stew half the bottle went in…opps…it slipped, I swear
Have to say though the smell of warm red wine wafting around the house….oooooh schlurp!! 
Thanks x
Its 10:44am, its cold and miserable outside and I want this pie … comfort food at its best … and there’s mash too – yum yum.