Beef and Mushroom Pie Recipe

A shortcrust pastry base and flaky puff pastry lid enclose a moist and tender beef and mushroom filling. This recipe is an adaptation of our meat pie recipe: we've added mushrooms and thyme and increased the amount of red wine.

Preparation time: about 1 hour 15 minutes (excludes simmering and baking times)

Makes 6 single-serve pies.

We use a 20ml tablespoon and 250ml measuring cup for all of our recipes.

40ml (2 tablespoons) oil
850g trimmed beef chuck or blade (or similar cut of meat), cut into bite-sized pieces
1 large (about 200g) onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves (about 17g total), peeled and crushed
24g (1 tablespoon) tomato paste
125ml (1/2 cup) red wine
375ml (1 1/2 cups) beef stock (we use a low salt stock)
335ml (1 1/3 cups) water
20ml (1 tablespoon) worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves (fresh or dried)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1/3 teaspoon dried thyme leaves)
Salt and pepper, to taste (we use about 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper)
300g mushrooms (cup or flat mushrooms)
24g (2 tablespoons) cornflour (cornstarch)
20ml (1 tablespoon) water
2 sheets puff pastry (each about 25cm by 25cm)
2-3 sheets shortcrust pastry (each about 25cm by 25cm)

We brown the meat in two batches to avoid overcrowding the pot. If you need to brown the meat in more than two batches, ignore the suggested oil and meat quantities in the following paragraph and divide 1 3/4 tablespoons oil among the batches (the remaining teaspoon of oil is used when cooking the onion).

Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan or stockpot over high heat. Add half the meat and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned (about six to eight minutes). Remove the saucepan from the heat and transfer the browned meat to a bowl. Add three teaspoons of the remaining oil to the pot and return to the heat. Brown remaining meat. Transfer second batch of meat to the bowl with the first batch.

Reduce heat to medium-low, add the last teaspoon of oil and onion to the pot. Return to the heat and stir frequently, scraping any brown bits off the bottom of the pot.

When the onion has softened and lightly browned, add garlic and tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, for one minute.

Stir in red wine, increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Add stock, 335ml (1 1/3 cups) water, worcestershire sauce, meat, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper.

Stir to combine and bring mixture to the boil. Cover and reduce heat to low so the mixture is just simmering. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 2 hours or until the meat is very tender. © exclusivelyfood.com.au

Roughly chop the mushrooms and add to the pot.

With the lid off, continue simmering (you may need to increase the heat slightly to maintain a simmer) for a further 30 to 40 minutes, until pieces of meat protrude above the liquid.

Stir the cornflour and the 20ml (1 tablespoon) water in a small bowl until well combined. Stir cornflour mixture into meat mixture. Cook, stirring, until the mixture returns to a simmer. Allow to simmer for one minute. Taste and add extra salt or pepper if desired.

Remove meat mixture from the heat and transfer to a heatproof container or leave in the cooking pot. Remove bay leaves. Cover and refrigerate mixture until completely cold.

When ready to cook the pies, preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius (180 degrees Celsius fan-forced). If you are not using a fan-forced oven, adjust the oven rack to the lowest position; the pastry bases will brown better if they are close to the bottom element.

Remove pastry sheets from the freezer.

Grease six non-stick individual-serve pie tins. We use 3cm deep pie tins that measure about 7.5cm across the base and about 12.5cm across the top (including the rim).

Invert a pie tin on a puff pastry sheet (near the edge to maximise the number of lids you can cut from the pastry before having to join pieces). Cut around the tin to form a lid.

Repeat until you have six lids. To minimise waste, join pastry offcuts by slightly overlapping them and pressing together with fingers to form pieces large enough to make a lid. You should be able to get six lids from two sheets of 25cm x 25cm pastry. Place pastry lids in a single layer, and cover with a damp, clean tea towel to prevent them drying out.

Invert pie tin on shortcrust pastry and cut around the pie tin about 1.5cm from the edge of the tin. Repeat until you have six rounds, joining pastry (as previously described) when necessary.

Ease shortcrust pastry rounds into pie tins. If you can see air bubbles under the pastry, lift some of the pastry away from the edge of the tin and push the air out with your fingers.

Divide meat mixture evenly among pastry bases.

Brush rims of pastry bases with water and cover pies with puff pastry lids.

Using a fork, firmly press around the edge of each pie lid to join lid to base.

Use a sharp knife to trim any pastry overhanging the tins.

Use the point of the knife to make a few small cuts in each pastry lid. At this point, the pies could be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator or wrapped and frozen.

Bake pies for about 35-45 minutes, or until the tops and bases are golden brown. If baking from frozen, pies will take about one hour. © www.exclusivelyfood.com.au