Steak and ale pie

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 lbbeef chuck, cut into large cubes
• 3 tbspall-purpose flour, for dusting the beef
• 2 tbspbeef tallow, or olive oil
• 2onions, sliced
• 2carrots, cut into chunks
• 8 3/4 ozchestnut mushrooms, halved
• 1 2/3 cupsdark ale, a stout or brown ale
• 1 2/3 cupsbeef stock
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 2 tbspWorcestershire sauce
• 2bay leaves
• 1/4 ozfresh thyme, a few sprigs
• 2 tspsea salt
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 13 1/4 ozpuff pastry, all-butter, chilled
• 1egg, beaten, to glaze

Method

1. 1

   Toss the beef cubes with the flour, the salt and the pepper until lightly coated. Heat the beef tallow in a heavy casserole and brown the beef hard in batches, lifting each batch out as it colors.

2. 2

   Add the onions, carrots and mushrooms to the pot and cook until softened and colored at the edges, scraping the base as they release their moisture.

3. 3

   Return the beef, pour in the ale and let it bubble for a minute, then add the beef stock, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves and thyme. Cover and cook at 325°F until the beef pulls apart under a fork.

4. 4

   Fish out the bay leaves and thyme stalks, check the seasoning, and let the filling cool right down before it goes anywhere near pastry. Tip it into a pie dish.

5. 5

   Heat the oven to 400°F. Roll the puff pastry a little larger than the dish, lay it over the cold filling, press the edge down firmly onto the rim, trim it, and cut a slit in the middle. Brush all over with the beaten egg.

6. 6

   Bake until the pastry is fully puffed, deeply browned and crisp underneath at the edges. Let the pie settle for a few minutes before cutting into it.