Directions

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  1. Prepare beef stock.
  2. Chop the beef, mushrooms, and onion into 1″ chunks.
  3. Chop 3 carrots into chunks and finely slice the remaining 1 carrot.
  4. Season beef with salt and pepper.
  5. Heat 1 tbsp of oil and cook the beef on high heat until the colour changes (see notes). Set beef aside.
  6. In the same pan, add a little more oil and saute onions and garlic for 2 minutes on medium-low heat.
  7. Add finely chopped carrots. Cook for 6 minutes (until the carrots soften).
  8. Add carrot chunks and cook for another 2 minutes.
  9. Add flour and stir.
  10. Add stock and stir to dissolve flour.
  11. Add thyme, bay leaf, and beef. Bring to simmer and then cover and cook on gentle simmer for 1 hr 45 min (or until the beef is tender).
  12. In a separate frying pan cook the mushrooms for 5 minutes.
  13. Add the cooked mushrooms to the stew. Simmer stew uncovered for 15 minutes (or until mushrooms are tender).
  14. When the pie filling (aka stew) is ready, leave it to cool to room temperature. Or you can refrigerate at this point.
  15. Preheat oven to 200C.
  16. Roll out the pastry and place on a pie dish.
  17. Scoop in the meat filling and cover with the remaining rolled out pastry.
  18. Brush the pie with egg yolk.
  19. Bake for 30-35 minutes. The pie filling should be sizzling and pastry a nice golden colour.

Notes:

  • Divide and cook the beef in small portions so that it colours up faster. If there’s a lot of beef in the same pot, it’ll get watery and more difficult to caramelise.
  • Don’t open the oven while the pie is cooking. It messes with the temperature.
  • Make some slits or holes in the top pastry to allow steam to escape during the baking process.