Shallot, steak and mushroom pie
YOU WILL NEED
110g butter 280g plain flour 1½ large eggs, beaten 8 shallots 40g butter 500g shoulder steak, trimmed and cut into 2cm cubes 25g plain flour, seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika I tbsp sunflower oil 100g streaky bacon lardons 200g chestnut mushrooms, halved 200ml red wine
200ml beef stock 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley Salt and pepper
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.
To make the pastry, rub the butter, flour and a pinch of salt together in a mixing bowl. Add the egg and bring it all together into a dough. Knead lightly with floured hands. Cover in cling film and refrigerate for an hour before use.
Pop the shallots into a pan of water. Bring to a simmer for about 1½ minutes. Peel off the skin without cutting off the ends, and remove root fibres.
Melt 25g of the butter in a casserole dish. Add the shallots and fry over a medium heat for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, put the steak into a polythene bag with the seasoned flour and toss together until well coated.
Heat a large frying pan until very hot. Add the sunflower oil, then the bacon and stir-fry for a few minutes until richly golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and add to the shallots in the casserole dish. Repeat this process with the mushrooms, and then to brown off the beef.
Add the wine and stock to the frying pan, bring to the boil and scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour this into the casserole dish, add plenty of seasoning and mix together well.
Cover the casserole with a tight-fitting lid and bake for 1-1½ hours until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened. Stir in the chopped parsley, tip into your pie dish and let cool.
Roll the pastry out on a floured surface. Trim a strip long enough to go around the rim of a 20cm pie dish and brush with beaten egg. Cut another piece of pastry to fit across the top of the dish, pressing the edges together to seal. Make a steam hole in the pie by cutting a small cross in the centre.
Pop the pie into the oven and cook for about 35 minutes. Serve with mash and mixed greens.
Recipe and image courtesy of UK Shallots, ukshallot.com