Rich Steak Pie

It's winter time, perfect weather for a good ol' steak pie.  This recipe is so wonderful in so many ways...but mostly it's the filling.  From the depth of flavour and the tenderness of the meat, you would have thought that hours of stove stirring had been devoted to this dish. But instead, just ten minutes in the kitchen and let the Thermomix do the other 40 minutes work for you.  Even a tough cut of stewing steak is tenderised to a delicious shred-able meat. I think that is seriously good.  A cheap cut, cooked in only 40 minutes and the perfect steak pie filling. 

 

Even better is that the recipe cooks a kilo of meat, so there is enough for another meal, or a large family.  You can either reinvent it the next night with a quick mash and steamed vegetables or freeze it for a ready-made pie filling some other night.

 

The pastry is a new recipe for me.  It uses ice instead of cold water and the result is super flaky.  Taking only a few minutes to pull together and made from only a few ingredients, it will make you think twice about pulling the packet of puff pastry out of the freezer.

 

Make the pastry beforehand and let it rest whilst the beef is cooking.  Ten minutes before the beef is finished, pull it from the fridge and roll into shape.  This time I lined the individual pie tins but often I will either make one large pie with only a top or place individual serves in my ovenproof breakfast bowls (Country Road make great little ones) and top with pastry.  Whilst my family loved the delicious pastry, using a little less of it is certainly a healthier option.

 

Because I am obsessed with including as many vegetables as possible, I also steamed sweet potato in the Varoma and added that to my filling.  I have provided that option in the recipe below.

 

RICH STEAK PIE

Ingredients  

Pastry

Makes four pie bases and tops. Reduce quantities to the amount in brackets if only doing pie tops

180g flour (140g)

160g butter - cubed (120g)

60g ice (40g)

1 tsp salt (1/2 tsp)

 

Filling

1 onion - peeled and quartered

2 cloves garlic - peeled

1 handful parsley

10ml olive oil

140g celery

2 carrots - chopped into pieces

1 kg diced stewing steak

4 mushrooms - sliced

10ml worstershire sauce

10ml balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp. tomato paste

1 tbsp. TM stock concentrate

100ml wine

15g cornflour

bay leaf

200g frozen peas

Optional: 1 large sweet potato

 

Method
Pastry

Place ice and butter into mixing bowl and chop 15 secs/ Sp 10. Scrape down sides of bowl.

Add flour and salt and mix 5secs/Sp5. Scrape down sides of bowl and knead 2mins/locked lid/interval button.
Turn onto floured mat or ball and bring together to form a ball.  Flatten into a disk, wrap and refrigerate for 20-30 mins.

Preheat oven to 200'. When ready roll out pastry on a floured surface and cut circles large enough to line 4 small pie dishes with, having some pastry hanging over the edges.  Re-roll pastry and cut four tops.

Fill with pie filling, heaping nice and high and then place lids on top.  Seal edges with a fork, trim excess and prick the tops to allow steam to escape.
Bake pie for 30mins at 200'C

 

Filling

Place onion, garlic and parsley in TM bowl and chop 5secs/Sp5.

Add celery and carrots and chop 5secs/Sp 4

Scrape down sides of bowl and add olive oil to sauté 4 mins/Varoma/Sp2.

Add diced beef and sauté 5mins/Varoma/Reverse/Sp1.  Leave MC off.

Add other ingredients, except peas, and cook 40mins/100'/Reverse/soft stir (or speed 1 if your Themomix is squeaking too much)
Shred the beef by hitting the Reverse button and slowly turning the blades up toward Speed 4 whilst peeping in the top of the TM lid.  Shred as much, or as little as you like.

Stir in frozen peas to the hot filling .

Optional: Steam some diced sweet potato in the Varoma dish at the same time. Cook on Varoma temp. Stir in with the peas at the end of cooking.