Hearty Meat Pie Recipe

 Image of hearty meat pie

This week we've had the pleasure of cooking a new pie for our frozen favourites menu. Kate, who works in our kitchen, shared her Mum's recipe with us last week and we pronounced it delicious. So, this week we're cooking it for you! 

But if you have a little extra time on your hands and fancy a little pie-making to while away the hours, here's the recipe so you can make it yourself.

For the filling:
500g chuck steak diced
3 bacon rashers diced
4 mushrooms, thickly diced
1 large onion diced
1 carrot sliced
1/2 cup peas
1 cup stock
1 tsp dried oregano
few sprigs fresh thyme
salt + pepper to taste
splash Worcestershire sauce

For the pastry:
250g plain flour
125g butter, room temperature
1 tbs caster sugar
salt + pepper
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1-2 tbs water

Filling
Coat steak in flour and brown quickly.
Fry bacon and onion in pan.
Put all of the ingredients, except the peas and cornflour, in a tray.
Cover tightly and cook for 2.5 to 3 hours at 140 degrees C.
Make cornflour slurry and stir through to thicken.
Cool, then add peas.

Pastry
To make pastry, put flour and caster sugar into bowl of mix-master and stir to combine. Add softened butter and beat on low speed until well combined. Whisk egg with salt and cold water in a jug and pour into flour mixture. Continue mixing gently until pastry just comes together. Do not overmix. Pour out onto a lightly floured bench and shape into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Roll out 2/3 of pastry disc to line the base of greased, round pie tin (about 20cm diameter) so that pastry is overhanging the edge of the pie tin. Sprinkle base with breadcrumbs. Pour in cooled filling. Moisten edge of pastry base with water. Roll out top of pie from the remaining piece of pastry. Place over pie filling, pressing gently on the edges of the tin to seal.

Cut around pie edges with a sharp knife to remove overhang. Fold or crimp edges to seal. Add steam holes to centre of pie top with a small, sharp knife. 

Bake in a hot oven, 200 degrees C for 30-35 mins until golden brown and filling is bubbling.

Pie can be frozen prior to baking for later use. To freeze, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, or place in a freezer safe container and freeze.