Sometimes you just need a big old bowl of meat and pastry.
Enter the beef and onion pie. A variation of the steak and ale pie or steak and onion pie, this is comfort food from across the pond at its best. It’s just so good. The aroma of the savory beef and pastry cooking fills the kitchen with warm, comforting goodness. It’s not pretty food… it’s just simple, good comfort food. You could do worse than this pie and a glass of ale at pretty much any time.
Beef and Onion Pie
Ingredients
- 3 medium onions
- 2 carrots
- 2 celery ribs
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 lb ground beef on the leaner side… 90% is good
- 1 teaspoon English mustard
- 1 teaspoon marmite
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce I use Lea and Perrins
- 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour plus extra for dusting
- 1 quart beef broth use less if you like less liquid in the filling
- prepared pie dough 2 – 2×9 inch, refrigerated
- 1 large egg or a splash of milk
Instructions
Beef Filling:
- Peel and roughly chop the onions, carrots and celery.
- Remove the rosemary leaves from the stalks and finely chop.
- Put a large pan over high heat and add about 2 T. olive oil, all the chopped veggies, rosemary and bay leaves. Stir every minute for about 10 minutes, or until the veggies are softened and lightly colored.
- Stir in the ground beef and break up any large pieces.
- Add the mustard, Marmite, Worcestershire sauce and 2 t. of flour.
- Add the beef broth and bring to a boil.
- Turn the heat down, put a lid on leaving it partially open, and simmer for about an hour. Make sure you stir it every so often.
Pie:
- Fill a large baking dish with the beef filling and let it cool.
- Remove the pastry from the refrigerator 10 minutes before you need to roll it.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Dust a clean work surface and a rolling pin with some flour and lay the pie dough one on top of the other. Fold in half and roll the dough to 1/8-inch thick. Once it’s large enough to cover the top of your serving dish, wind the pastry around your rolling pin and unroll it over the dish. Just patch up any rips or tears. Run a knife around the edge of the dish to trim off any extra dough.
- Using a fork, press down all around the edge of the dough to crimp it closed.
- Make a hole in the middle of the dough, using the tip of a knife.
- Brush the top of the dough with the beaten egg (or milk).
- Bake on the bottom rack of your preheated oven for about 40 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and crisp.
