Beef and Ale Pie
Beef it up with this warming recipe
Ingredients
200g portobello mushrooms, wiped and thickly sliced
Olive oil
1 small carrot, diced
1 onion, diced
1 celery stick, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
400g beef mince
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tbsp plain flour
300ml ale
200ml beef stock
1 tsp english mustard
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp worcester sauce
About 300g puff pastry
Sea salt
Black pepper
1 egg, beaten
SERVES: 4 PREPARATION: 15 MINUTES COOKING TIME: 1 HOUR 15 MINUTES
Method
Place a non-stick frying pan over a high heat - you need one with a lid.
Fry the mushrooms in a splash of oil for 6-7 minutes until they are golden. add the carrot, onion, celery and garlic and continue to cook for 7-8 minutes, then remove the vegetables from the pan and set to one side.
Add the mince to the pan and cook over a high heat for about 5 minutes. Lower the heat slightly, then put the vegetables back in the pan and add the herbs.
Sprinkle in the flour and cook for around 1 minute, then pour in the ale. Stir with a wooden spoon to scrape up all the sticky bits from the bottom of the pan, then add just enough beef stock to cover the mixture.
Stir in the mustard, tomato puree and Worcester sauce, then cover the pan with a lid and cook over a low heat for 10-15 minutes or so.
Season the mixture with salt and pepper before transferring it to a pie tin about 23cm in diameter.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°f/gas mark 6.
Roll out the pastry until it is the thickness of a £1 coin, then cut it into a circle slightly larger than your pie tin.
Wet the edges of the tin with a little water, then lay the pastry over the filling. using your fingers, crimp the pastry on to the edges of the pie tin, then trim away any excess with a knife.
Brush with beaten egg, then bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. serve hot.