Proper Beef and Guinness Pie with a Puff Pastry Lid

⏱ 210 min · Serves 6

Chuck steak braised low and slow in stout until it collapses into a glossy, malty gravy, then crowned with buttery puff pastry. Dark, deep and worth the wait — this is Dublin comfort in a dish.

Per serving: 712 kcal · 48.0g protein · 38.0g carbs · 40.0g fat

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg beef chuck, cut into 4cm chunks
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 large onions, roughly chopped
• 3 carrots, cut into thick coins
• 2 celery sticks, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 440 ml can Guinness draught stout
• 400 ml beef stock
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp dark brown sugar
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 250 g chestnut mushrooms, halved
• 30 g butter
• 375 g block or sheet all-butter puff pastry
• 1 egg, beaten, to glaze

Method

1. Toss the beef with the flour, salt and pepper until evenly coated.
2. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large casserole over high heat and brown the beef in batches, 3-4 minutes per batch. Don't crowd the pan. Set aside.
3. Lower the heat, add the last of the oil with the onions, carrots and celery and cook 8-10 minutes until softened and starting to colour.
4. Stir in the garlic and tomato purée and cook 1 minute, then pour in the Guinness, scraping the base of the pan. Simmer 3 minutes to cook off the raw edge.
5. Return the beef and any juices, add the stock, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, bay and thyme. Bring to a bare simmer, cover and cook very gently for 2 to 2.5 hours, until the beef shreds with a fork. Alternatively cook at 160C/140C fan for the same time.
6. Meanwhile, fry the mushrooms in the butter over high heat until golden, then stir them into the stew for the last 20 minutes.
7. Uncover and simmer 10-15 minutes to thicken the gravy to a coating consistency. Fish out the bay and thyme, taste for salt, then cool for at least 20 minutes — filling must not be piping hot.
8. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan. Tip the filling into a 2 litre pie dish. Roll the pastry to fit with a little overhang, lay it over, press the edges to the rim, trim and crimp. Cut a steam vent in the centre and brush all over with beaten egg.
9. Bake 25-30 minutes until the pastry is puffed, deep golden and crisp. Rest 5 minutes and serve with mash or buttered peas.