Plenty of gravy, piles of frozen peas, and with lots of potato and swede mash to glue it all to the fork. The star anise in such a small amount is there purely to bring out all the savoury flavour of the meat. Use ready-rolled puff pastry to make life easy and bring a billowing steaming homemade steak pie to the table. The filling in this pie needs to be perfectly cool before adding the pastry and baking.
Heat the dripping in a heavy saucepan, and add the onions with the meat. Stir over a high heat to brown all over.
Season with a pinch of salt, add the flour, stir for one minute and then add the water. Stir again, making sure there are no lumps, and then crumble in the oxo cubes.
Add the tomato puree, bay leaves, star anise, Worcestershire sauce and plenty of black pepper.
Turn the heat to medium low and simmer, uncovered for about 2 hours or until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened.
Tip into your pie dish and leave aside (or overnight) to cool.
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Wet the edges of the pie dish and lay the sheet of puff pastry over the top, using a pie funnel if you have one.
Make a small hole at the centre, for the steam to escape, and crimp the edges of the pastry to form a decorative edge.
Brush with egg (beaten with water) and place at the centre of the oven for around 40 minutes. After about 25 minutes you may need to lay a sheet of foil across the top to prevent further browning.
Boil the swede and the potato, in separate pans of water, until tender. Drain, and leave in the colander to dry out a little. Mash together with the butter and milk. Season with salt.
Serve the pie and mash piping hot with a serving of peas.
Ingredients
Directions
Heat the dripping in a heavy saucepan, and add the onions with the meat. Stir over a high heat to brown all over.
Season with a pinch of salt, add the flour, stir for one minute and then add the water. Stir again, making sure there are no lumps, and then crumble in the oxo cubes.
Add the tomato puree, bay leaves, star anise, Worcestershire sauce and plenty of black pepper.
Turn the heat to medium low and simmer, uncovered for about 2 hours or until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened.
Tip into your pie dish and leave aside (or overnight) to cool.
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Wet the edges of the pie dish and lay the sheet of puff pastry over the top, using a pie funnel if you have one.
Make a small hole at the centre, for the steam to escape, and crimp the edges of the pastry to form a decorative edge.
Brush with egg (beaten with water) and place at the centre of the oven for around 40 minutes. After about 25 minutes you may need to lay a sheet of foil across the top to prevent further browning.
Boil the swede and the potato, in separate pans of water, until tender. Drain, and leave in the colander to dry out a little. Mash together with the butter and milk. Season with salt.
Serve the pie and mash piping hot with a serving of peas.
