Jamie O's Steak, Guinness and Cheese Pie

If that isn't a sight to warm your cockles, I don't know what is!

I think I came across this EPIC pie whilst reading Meal Planning Monday posts recently. I immediately looked it up and discovered Jamie Oliver's recipe from Jamie at Home. After reading the recipe I knew that it was going to take a bit of time to construct so planned it for a weekend and last Saturday was the day I had been looking forward to all week - pie making day!

I really enjoy cooking something like a pie or a casserole. The whole process is quite therapeutic and how satisfying when at the end of it you have created something delicious and filling.

Nearly everybody pulled a face like this...

...when I mentioned the cheese element and I have no idea why! What is wrong with the concept of steak and cheese huh? Seems a perfectly normal combo to me. Anyway to those naysayers I saw ner-ner-ner-ner-ner because it was beautiful and the cheese made it.

I had high hopes for this pie and I was not disappointed, it was truly scrumptious and Mr M even gave it the lesser-spotted 10 out of 10 mark. (He normally won't go to 10 unless a starter and dessert have been provided. Hard to please?! You'd never hear me say it out loud...).

I'm not lying when I say it was the best pie I ever tasted and for that reason I must share the recipe with you immediately! I won't lie, it takes a fair bit of time to prep, cook the filling and then the actual pie but the results are worth it. The recipe makes a large pie, suggested serving 4-6. 

Steak, Guinness and Cheese Pie

Ingredients

Olive oil

3 medium red onions, peeled and chopped

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

30g butter, plus extra for greasing

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 sticks of celery, trimmed and chopped

4 large, flat mushrooms, peeled and sliced

1kg brisket of beef or stewing beef cut into 2cm cubes

a few sprigs of rosemary, leaves picked and chpped

sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

1 x 440ml can of Guinness

2 heaped tbsp of plain flour

200g freshly grated Cheddar cheese

500g ready-made all-butter puff pastry

1 large egg, beaten

Method

Preheat the oven to 190ºC/gas mark 5. In a large ovenproof casserole dish, heat some olive oil over a low heat. 

Add the onions and fry gently for about 10 minutes, not allowing them to colour too much, you want them just softened.  Increase the heat and add the garlic, butter, carrots, celery and mushrooms. Mix everything together before stirring in the beef, rosemary, a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper.

Fry for 3-4 minutes, then pour in the Guinness, stir in the flour and add just enough water to cover. You probably won't need much water so go carefully because this isn't a beef casserole - it's pie filling and you don't want it swamped! Bring to a simmer and then cover the dish with a lid and place in the preheated oven for about 1½ hours. 

Remove the pan from the oven and give it a stir. Put it back into the oven and continue to cook it for another hour, or until the meat is tender. The stew should be nice and thick now. If it’s not as thick as you would like and still has quite a bit of liquid after the hour is up, place the dish on the hob and reduce until the sauce thickens a little bit more. Remove from the dish from the heat and stir in half  of the cheese, then season and leave to cool whilst you roll out the pastry.

Cut a third of the pastry off the block. Dust a clean work surface with flour and roll both pieces of the pastry out - to the thickness of a pound coin is what Jamie suggests. Butter a deep pie dish, then line with the larger sheet, leaving the edges dangling over the side. Tip the beef stew into your pastry-lined dish and even it out before sprinkling over the remaining cheddar cheese. Brush the edges of the pastry with a little beaten egg.

Cut the other rolled sheet of pastry to fit the top of the pie dish and score it lightly in a criss-cross pattern with a sharp knife. Place it over the top of the pie and fold the overhanging pastry on to the pastry lid. (Jamie says make it look nice and rustic - which is a good thing as my pastry is always rustic...) Brush the top with beaten egg, then bake the pie in the oven for 45 minutes, until the pastry is cooked and golden.

Now I know what you're thinking. Peel a mushroom? PEEL A MUSHROOM?! Because I had the same thoughts, but yes, it's possible to peel a mushroom. I don't know if it's entirely necessary but it is possible I know that much, and kind of therapeutic I might add.  All you have to do is remove the stem and then that floppy bit of mushroom, erm, skin? I don't know you would call it, but the overhang you get, just grab that and peel it right off. It comes away easily and you have a nice, clean, spotless, peeled mushroom. You can thank me later.

As I have said before, this pie was delicious and you need nothing else with it other than a big old plate of peas, and if you're like me, a nice fat dollop of ketchup.

If you've tried this pie, let me know what you thought!