Steak and Ale Pie

The Method for Steak and Ale Pie

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1. Toss the beef in the seasoned flour. Heat the dripping in a heavy casserole and brown the meat hard in three batches, setting each aside. Crowding the pan here costs you the whole flavour of the pie.

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2. Cook the onions and carrots in the same pot for 8 minutes, scraping up the browned bits.

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3. Add the mushrooms and cook 5 minutes until they have given up their water and started to colour.

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4. Stir in the garlic, then the tomato purée, and cook 2 minutes.

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5. Pour in the ale and let it bubble for 4 minutes, scraping the base clean.

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6. Return the beef with the stock, Worcestershire, bay, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to a bare simmer.

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7. Cover and cook at 150°C / 300°F fan for 2 1/2 hours, until the beef gives way completely.

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8. Uncover and simmer on the hob 15 minutes until the gravy coats a spoon thickly. Cool completely, moving it to the fridge within 2 hours, ideally overnight.

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9. Spoon the cold filling into a 24 cm pie dish. Roll the pastry to a 5 mm lid, wet the rim, lay it on and press the edges down firmly. Trim and crimp.

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10. Cut two steam vents, brush with egg, and bake at 200°C / 392°F fan for 30 to 35 minutes until deep golden and risen.

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Related guides: Prep, cook and total time · Pan and tin size.

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Things to Watch For

1. Cold filling, always. Warm filling steams the pastry off the top.
2. Shin, not stewing steak. It is cheaper and it makes a better gravy.
3. Brown the beef in batches with real space around it. This is the step people rush.

Ingredient Swaps

• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

The Short Version

The filling has to be cold and thick before the pastry goes on, or steam lifts the lid off and the base of it never cooks. Shin rather than braising steak is the choice worth making: it carries far more collagen, so two and a half hours turns it into something that thickens the gravy on its own.

On the Table Alongside

Mashed potato and buttered peas · A pint of the same ale · Pickled red cabbage

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Braised Red Cabbage, Duck Fat Roast Potatoes, Fried Bread.

Storing Leftovers

The filling keeps 3 days refrigerated and freezes 3 months. Bake the pie the day you serve it.

Quick Answers

Nutrition per Serving

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. The calories include 3 g of alcohol a serving, which is not part of the protein, carbohydrate or fat. How the figures are worked out.

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