Of all the pies I have made (and I've racked up quite a number now), I have never, ever made a steak pie.
What?
Ok, so I've calmed down quite a bit on the whole 'I love beef and pies and all-things-meat-like' in recent months, but really, this is no excuse. I cannot have a beef-free pie portfolio.
So this week I give you...
Steak and Sweet Potato Pie! *ahhh*
And guess what?
IT DIDN'T GO WRONG!
Perhaps at first glance, it doesn't seem the most complex of pies. But, what I'm very proud of with this particular pie is that I made the pastry from scratch *beams proudly*
I'm not entirely sure why but I have always had issues with shortcrust pastry. We just don't get on. I try to knead it and it sticks to my hands. I add my flour and the whole thing breaks apart. It always ends in tears - me slapping the cracked dough bits into the bin, running to the shop to buy some pre-made pastry and vowing never to make shortcrust pastry again.
But this time was different.
I was calm, cool, collected.
Ok, that's a lie. During the whole 50 minutes that this was in the oven, I was perching infront of it every five minutes, staring through the window - because all I could see was the butter of the pastry bubbling away dangerously. This has happened before - I never seem to get the flour and butter into proper breadcrumb mixture before kneading.
I'm pretty sure that's not really supposed to happen - I mean it doesn't with pre-bought pastry anyway. But this time, I decided to just leave it in a bit longer until the pastry looked a bit more solid.
And thank goodness I did, because it turned out to be one of the tastiest pies I've ever made! And it had REAL pastry!
Steak and Sweet Potato Pie
For an 8" pie dish:
1 6oz rump or stewing steak, cubed
1 sweet potato, cubed
1 small yellow pepper, chopped
Small red onion, chopped
1/3 pint hot beef stock
1 tsp grated ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
275g plain flour, sifted
200g unsalted cold butter, cubed
1 medium egg yolk, beaten
1 tsp salt
Bit of cold water
OR
275g pre-made shortcrust pastry
1) Rub plain flour, salt and butter in a large bowl to a breadcrumb mixture.
2) Pour in egg yolk, and mix into a dough. Knead, wrap in clingfilm and refridgerate for 30 minutes.
3) Brown steak cubes, then remove from pan.
4) Fry ginger, garlic and onion, followed by sweet potatoes, pepper and hot stock.
5) Bring to the boil, then leave to simmer for about 15 minutes. Return the steak to the pan for the last 5 minutes.
6) Roll out two-thirds of the pastry on a floured surface and line the bottom of a pie dish.
7) Add the steak mixture, then roll out the remaining pastry to top the pie, sealing the edges.
8) Bake at 200 degrees C for 30-40 minutes until crispy and brown.
For an 8" pie dish:
1 6oz rump or stewing steak, cubed
1 sweet potato, cubed
1 small yellow pepper, chopped
Small red onion, chopped
1/3 pint hot beef stock
1 tsp grated ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
275g plain flour, sifted
200g unsalted cold butter, cubed
1 medium egg yolk, beaten
1 tsp salt
Bit of cold water
OR
275g pre-made shortcrust pastry
(If you're using pre-made pastry, skip straight to step 3. Take the pastry out the fridge 10 minutes before rolling out.)
1) Rub plain flour, salt and butter in a large bowl to a breadcrumb mixture.
2) Pour in egg yolk, and mix into a dough. Knead, wrap in clingfilm and refridgerate for 30 minutes.
3) Brown steak cubes, then remove from pan.
4) Fry ginger, garlic and onion, followed by sweet potatoes, pepper and hot stock.
5) Bring to the boil, then leave to simmer for about 15 minutes. Return the steak to the pan for the last 5 minutes.
6) Roll out two-thirds of the pastry on a floured surface and line the bottom of a pie dish.
7) Add the steak mixture, then roll out the remaining pastry to top the pie, sealing the edges.
8) Bake at 200 degrees C for 30-40 minutes until crispy and brown.
Pie out.
Read my other Friday Pie-Day adventures.
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