feed me classics
Recipe: Steak & ale pies
Steak and ale pie is and remains a true classic; you can’t step into a pub where it isn’t on the menu. If you really want to eat this dish the English way, you naturally serve it with steamed peas, carrots and thick-cut chips. You can also easily make these pies with leftover stewed meat.
door Steffi Posthumus
You can halve the pastry recipe if necessary.
Preparation
- Grease the pie dishes with butter.
- Make the filling by sautéing the onion and carrot in a cast-iron pan. Coat the meat in the flour and add the floured meat to the vegetables. Brown the meat briefly and add the tomato purée. Fry briefly, then deglaze with the ale.
- Bring to the boil, then add the slice of bread with mustard. Stir until the bread falls apart, then put the lid on the pan and leave to simmer for another 1.5 to 2 hours. I do this in the oven at 160 °C, because I don’t like leaving a pan on the hob for that long.
- When the stewed meat is ready, leave it to cool before making the pies.
- Make the shortcrust pastry by blitzing the flour, salt, butter and cheese in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Blitz in short bursts until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Then add the water and blitz again in short bursts until the dough forms a ball in the bowl. You can also do this by hand; rub the butter into the flour and salt until you have the consistency of fine breadcrumbs, then add the water. Remove from the bowl and knead briefly. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 180 °C.
- Set one third of the dough aside for the lids. Roll out the rest to a thickness of 3 millimetres on a floured work surface. Roughly divide it into four pieces. Let each piece of dough sink into its pie dish and make sure it takes the shape nicely. Leave the excess dough hanging over the edge so you can attach the lid neatly. Now roll out the dough for the lids and fill the pies with the cooled stewed meat.
- For Steak & Stilton pies, crumble the Stilton and add it to the stewed meat before filling the pies.
- Brush the edges of the crust with egg wash, place the pastry lid on top of the pie and use a sharp knife to cut away the excess pastry from the top and bottom together. Now pinch the edges together so the pies don’t open during baking. You can make decorations from the leftover pastry. You can bake or freeze the pies.
- Brush the top of each pie with egg wash and bake for 40–50 minutes in the centre of your oven at 180 °C, or until the pies are golden brown.
Image: Regula Ysewijn
Title: British Baking Book
Author: Regula Ysewijn
Price: €31.99
Publisher: Carrera Culinair
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