Beef & Veggie Pie – British Food Fortnight Event

Antonia from Food Glorious Food is organising a wonderful food event running from the 20th September until the 5th October for British Food Fortnight which is a celebration of the fantastically diverse range of foods produced in Britain. I spotted this event a little while back and just knew I had to partake and give my support in such a great event with seasonal British food, how could I not submit an entry!! I’m just skimming in here with the dead line *phew*....

My entry comes from my childhood when my mother would use up leftover roast beef from the Sunday roast for a family pie on a Monday. I think this was one of my favourite meals as a child. I would rush home from school to the smell of a freshly baked beef and veggie pie served with creamy mashed potatoes, steamed cabbage & gravy what joy this was. We never had any waste food in our house, everything mum would utilise into another dish.

Today in my family we still have roast beef on certain Sunday meals but alas we never seem to have any leftover roast beef to make my mum’s pie. I now use fresh British beef mince from my local butchers and seasonal veggies that I buy at my local greengrocers.

*If you don’t fancy making your own shortcrust pastry for any reason, a good shop brought one will be just as good for this pie*.

Beef & Veggie Pie

Ingredients
For Shortcrust Pastry
400g (14 oz) plain flour
100g (4 oz) butter
100g (4 oz) vegetable fat or lard
A pinch of salt
Ice cold water
For The beef & Veggie Filling
450g (1 lb) beef mince
2 onions, peeled and chopped into dice
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into dice
1 parsnip, peeled and chopped into dice
A quarter of a small swede, peeled chopped into dice
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped finely
A good splash of Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp of tomato puree
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
½ tsp chilli powder
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
200ml (7 fl oz) Beef stock
A little olive oil for frying
1 egg beaten with a little milk, to glaze the pie

You will also need a pie tin 20cm (8 in) round in size, greased with a little butter.

Method

Firstly make the pastry by adding the flour, salt, butter and vegetable fat to a large bowl. Rub through the mixture with your finger tips until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Add 1 tsp of cold iced water for each 25g (1 oz) flour in the recipe and bring together with a rounded knife. Form into a ball with your hands and wrap in cling film and place in the fridge to cool. *If you need to add a little more water to bring the pastry together again add a tsp at a time*.

Whilst the pastry is cooling, gently fry the onions and veggies until the onions and veggies are giving slightly but not brown. Fry the beef mince until brown add the garlic, Worcestershire sauce, tomato puree, sweet smoked paprika, chilli powder and stir through then add the beef stock. Simmer slowly on the stove until the veggies and meat are soft and cooked through fully, and the stock is reduced to virtually zero, leaving a very moist filling. Season the filling with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Leave to cool slightly while you roll out the pastry.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/400°F/Gas mark 6.

Cut a quarter off the pastry and leave aside for the lid. With the remaining pastry roll out on a floured surface until it is large enough to line the base and sides of the pie dish with a little overhang, gently prick the base with a fork making sure not to go through all the way and then fill the pie case with the filling. Roll out the remaining pastry large enough to fit as a lid. Brush the pie edge with the filling with a little egg glaze and place the pastry lid on top. Crimp the pastry around the edge to fully seal the pie and cut off any excess pastry. Re-roll any scraps of pastry and cut out shapes to stick on the pastry lid and brush over the pastry lid with egg glaze. Lastly place two slits in the lid with a sharp knife to let the steam out while baking. Place in the oven and bake for 25 – 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown on top. Cut and serve slices with seasonal veggies of choice and lashings of good beef gravy – believe me this tastes excellent and such a lovely comfort food to sit down and eat!

I was also going to share this recipe with ‘dear’ Ivy at Kopiaste, to Greek hospitality for her Savoury Pie Event but alas, I have had family staying and then unfortunately I caught an awful cold and cough and regrettably missed the posting dead line, sorry Ivy!

Edit - Thank you Ivy for allowing my entry into your Savoury Pie Event - so very kind of you :)