In deepest winter when the days are long and the temperatures are frosty, steak pie is a perfect dinner.
Slow cookers are a great bit of kit for taking all the legwork out of your meals.
James Martin’s slow cooker beef pie has melt-in-your-mouth tenderness without all the effort.
All you have to do is gather your ingredients, pop on the slow cooker and make use of ready-made pastry for the crust.
The chef wrote: “Beef & Ale Pie is a classic dish that is hearty and warming. Slow cooked, the meat is lovely and tender and the creamy mash is the perfect partner!”
James Martin’s beef and ale pie
Ingredients
2kg shin of beef, diced
Two tbsp vegetable oil
Twp tbsp plain flour
Salt and pepper
Three onions, sliced
Three bay leaves
One small bunch of thyme
One bulb garlic, crushed
300ml beef stock
700ml beer
One large marrowbone
Two 300g ready rolled puff pastry
To serve – mash, butter, double cream
Egg wash
Method
Toss the meat in flour. Then, in a very large non-stick casserole dish, fry the meat until deeply coloured, and season. Do this in batches.
Then, pop it all back into the pan with the onions, thyme, bay leaves and garlic, cover it all in beer and stock, then simmer for two hours. After, allow cool .
Pop into oven-proof dishes, sit a marrowbone in the centre, top with pastry, seal the edges, egg wash and bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 180c until golden and ready to serve.
