Steak and Ale Pie Recipe

Ingredients

600g short crust pastry - follow our recipe here

For the filling:
1kg stewing steak, cut into 2cm cubes
100g Smoky Bacon, cut into strips
450ml real ale
500ml beef stock
1 onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1.5 tbsp tomato puree
3 sprigs of fresh thyme, finely chopped leaves
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp plain flour
1tbsp cornflour

Method

Step 1: Cook the onions and bacon on a medium heat until golden, then add the garlic and fry for a further 2 minutes. Set aside.
Step 2: Season your steak, sprinkle with flour. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and add the steak once hot, fry until it is browned and remove from the pan, setting aside for later.
Step 3: Leave the remaining meat juices in the frying pan and add half of the ale, bringing to the boil. Transfer the steak, onions and bacon back to the frying pan adding the rest of the ale, stock, tomato puree and herbs, bring to the boil and cover, leaving to simmer until the meat is tender (approx 1.5 hours).
Step 4: Mix 2 tbsp of cold water with some corn flour and add to the pan. Once the sauce has thickened, take off the heat and allow to cool.
Step 5: Once cooled, strain the liquid from the meat leaving a little bit for the pie filling and set aside to serve with the pie.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Step 6: Roll out the short crust pastry to 4mm thick and line your pie dish, leave some pastry hanging over the edges of the dish and spoon in the meat filling.
Step 7: Brush the edges of the pastry with a beaten egg, roll out the pastry so that it’s big enough to cover the pie (we’d recommend it to be as thick as a pound coin) and place over the pie, press the edges firmly together to seal and cutting off any excess pastry.
Step 8: Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and puffed up.

Serve with the remaining gravy and your favourite sides - ours would be mash and some seasonal veg!