old fashioned meat pie
This is a real meat pie. Use cheaper cuts of meat, such as oyster blade or skirt, to provide loads of flavour and benefit from slow cooking. I have used ready made pastry here, but it would be delicious with homemade shortcrust. Individual aluminium pie tins are readily available at the supermarket, or make one large family pie for dinner.
1 brown onion
1 carrot
1 stick celery
4 tbsp olive oil
750g oyster blade steak (or skirt steak)
4 tbsp plain flour
2 cups veal stock (or water)
salt and pepper to season
8 sheets ready rolled shortcrust pastry (or homemade)
1 egg, beaten for pastry glaze
tomato sauce to serve
Roughly chop onion, carrot and celery, then put into a food processor and finely chop.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy based pot and fry the vegetables for 5 minutes until softened. Remove and set aside.
Cut the meat into 2 cm cubes and toss in flour to coat. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the same pot and brown the meat in two batches. Pour in one cup of stock to deglaze the pot and scrape off any bits sticking to the bottom. Return the vegetables to the pot, add enough stock to just cover the meat, bring to the boil, cover with a lid then reduce heat and cook for 1 ½ hours. Stir from time to time to make sure the meat doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Add salt and pepper to season and set aside to cool completely.
Preheat oven to 220C.
Use a side plate as a guide to cut 6 x 16 cm diameter circles in the pastry. Cut 6 x 11 cm diameter circles as pastry lids.
Gently place the larger pastry in the bottom of 6 aluminium pie tins. Trim any excess.
Place cooled meat filling in the pie. Before placing on the pastry lid, brush around the edges of the pie with the beaten egg to create a seal. Press down the lid firmly at the edges and cut a small vent in the centre. Brush the top of the pastry with more egg glaze.
Place pies on a baking tray in oven and cook for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 180C and cook for a further 25 minutes, until golden brown.
Serve with tomato sauce.
makes 6.