Try this sumptuous pie…easy to make and great for the family. Even better - impress your guests with a hearty feast accompanied by winter vege and a bottle of our Fontella Chianti!

• Serves: 4
• Prep time: 2 1/2 hours
• Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients

Filling:
500g rump steak or stewing steak, cubed
2 large red onion roughly chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 handfuls of mushrooms roughly chopped
1 generous carrot, finely diced
1 stick of celery, finely diced
1 can/bottle of dark beer/stout (eg Clydedale)
1 cup of beef stock
2 TB of cornflour, dissolved in 3 TBsp of water
1 TB Chinese five spice

Pastry:
350g Puff Pastry
100g Blue cheese (eg Stilton)
Egg wash (1 egg with 2 TB water)
Sesame seeds (either white, black or both)

Method

• Turn on oven to moderate heat 160c.
• Brown the beef in suitable batches in a oven/cook top casserole dish, careful not to overcrowd, this will only stew the meet  not brown it.  Remove and keep warm.
• In the same pan sauté onions, garlic, carrots and celery until soft, we want minimal colour here.
• Add 5 spice and mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes before adding beer, stock and meat back in.
• Add cornflour mixture and stir until thick.
• Place in moderately slow oven (160-180 celsius) for 2 hours.  Remove from oven and let cool a little. Transfer to a pie dish.
• Roll out pastry to ½ cm thickness to suit your pie dish.
• Dot your pastry with the blue cheese, carefully fold into a square and roll out again so cheese is beautifully disbursed throughout pastry.
• Cover pie dish with pastry. Seal edges and brush top with egg wash. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if you please.
• Stab the pastry all over with a fork to prevent explosions – distratrous after all this hard work!
• Bake in a hot oven (200 c) until pastry is puffing golden and your kitchen smells amazing – approx. 25-30 mins.
• Let pie sit and set for 15 minutes.
   

To Serve

• Serve with horseradish mashed parsnip (or swede), and balsamic Brussels & peas.
• Wash it down with a gutsy dark ale but equally pleasing with a glass of red.
Tips:
• Recipe also works well substituting beer with red wine.
• Also great filling for filo parcels – spoon cool meat mixture onto filo squares, add big dollop of fruit relish and a slice of blue cheese, wrap up and bake as per filo instructions. Great for lunch!

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