Aussie Beef Pie

Although making pie from meat is by no means unique to Australia, other than New Zealand there is no other country I’ve come across where virtually everywhere you go, you can grab a pie. Home made Aussie pies are delicious in their own way; flaky, hot and with tender beef chunks, slathered in or (god forbid) without tomato sauce.

Ingredients

• 500 g chuck steak (beef) diced
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 garlic clove finely chopped
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 carrot finely chopped
• 2 celery stalk finely chopped
• 1 red capsicum finely chopped
• 1 tbs paprika
• 1 tbs tomato paste
• 125 mls red wine
• 125 mls water
• 375 mls beef stock (liquid)
• 2 bay leaf
• 1 pinch sea salt and cracked pepper *to taste
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 tbs cornflour
• 2 sheets butter puff pastry defrosted
• 1 egg lightly beaten
• 1 bottle tomato sauce *to serve

Equipment

• 1 saucepan
• 1 glass pie pan

• Method

  • STEP 1In a heavy-based saucepan, heat the oil and cook the steak until sealed and browned. Transfer to a bowl.
  • STEP 2Add the vegetables and fry until translucent, about 5 minutes. Return the beef to the pan and add the paprika and tomato paste. Stir through.
  • STEP 3Add all the remaining ingredients except for the cornflour and water, pastry and beaten egg. Simmer mix for 45 minutes. Combine water and cornflour and stir through mixture. Simmer until thick. Allow to cool and refrigerate overnight.
  • STEP 4The next day, preheat the oven to 220C degrees. Lightly grease a round glass pie dish and line with a sheet of puff pastry. Fill with the beef filling and top with a second pastry sheet. Crimp the two sheets together with a fork and cut away the excess pastry. Prick some holes in the top of the pie to allow air to escape and brush the top with beaten egg.
  • STEP 5Bake for 45 minutes or until top and bottom of pie are golden (it helps to use a glass dish so you can see this happening). If the pie browns too quickly on top, cover with foil.
  • STEP 6Allow the pie to cool for 10 minutes or so before cutting and serving with tomato sauce and any veg you prefer. For me, it steamed green beans and mashed potato. Enjoy!

  Notes

  The filling needs to be refridgerated overnight to ensure the pie isn’t soggy. I had always wondered why my pie came out uniformly soft on the bottom until I came across this tip! That way, the mixture thickens and sets and then you cook the entire pie from cold rather than a cold pie/hot filling combo. The recipe is quite liquid-heavy. And I’m imagining a side effect would be the flavours developing more.