Kids Friendly Beef & Mushroom Pie

I have a sudden craving for pie, hot piping meat pie like the ones we had in London, paired with a pint of cold ale. Perhaps it's the raining weather, or just the desire to travel.

So I searched for some best pie recipes and decided to stick with Jamie Oliver's  Aussie Humble Pie, I used to watch his cooking show in late night and he's still one of my favorite hosts. 

I made some minor adjustments to the recipe to make it kids friendly -- replacing  ale with non-alcohol malt drink and added some green peas which the kids like. 

The duo absolutely love these pies, they ate 2 slices each and finished everything on the plate, including mushrooms which they usually picked and chucked aside. So I must say this recipe is a keeper!

Hot Beef & Mushroom pie....

The thick gravy is just oh-so-nice!

Ready to bake (before applying egg wash..)

Ta-da.... The pies are served.

I made 2 medium size pies with this recipe, or you may use a larger pan too. It's more than sufficient for 4 persons sharing.

Preparation Time: 45min

Waiting Time: 2-3h

Cooking & Baking Time: 2h

  

The Ingredients:

For the filling:

• 500gm beef, cut into chunks (Jamie's recipe uses 1kg)

• approx 2 dash of ground pepper

• approx 6 dash of nutmeg powder

• 8 fresh brown mushrooms, sliced 

• 2 whole carrots, cut into small chunks

• 2 palmful of frozen green peas

• 2 clove garlic, diced 

• 2 shallots, diced

• 2 sprigs rosemary (add more dried rosemary if you wish) 

• 250ml Malta drink (replacement for pale ale)

• 1 tablespoon tomato purée 

• 1 tablespoon plain flour

For the dough:

• 600gm plain flour

• 150gm unsalted butter, cut cubes 

• 150gm shredded cheddar cheese (I reduced to 100gm)

• 1L cold water

• 1 egg yolk, beaten

• spray cooking oil / extra butter for brushing 

The Making:

Little E snapped a shot of mommy preparing the pie base.

1.  Heat up 2 table spoons of olive oil, sautée the onion, garlic, and follow by carrots. Add salt and rosemary, cook for about 10 minutes then set aside. 

2. Season the beef with salt, nutmeg powder, pepper and 2 tablespoon of olive oil, mix well. Heat up a pot and cook the beef on high heat until turns brown.

3. Pour malt (or ale if you prefer the authentic taste) into the pot, follow by flour and tomato purée. Add 1L of water and let the liquid boils. Stir occasionally to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.

4. Add the sliced mushrooms, cooked vegetables and green peas. Then close the lid and let it simmers on medium heat for about 1.5 hours or until the gravy is thicken. Let the stew beef cold down completely before using (I transferred it to a pot and keep it in the fridge) 

Preparing the dough - you can make this a day earlier and store it in the freezer compartment (covered in cling film)

5. In a clean mixer bowl, add shredded cheese into the flour, follow by butter cubes. Rub to mix with your hands then gradually add in water. Continue mixing until you get a smooth dough. Cut half, half to be used for dough base and the other for the pie top. 

6. Using a rolling pin, spread out the dough on a clean surface to form a large square, then lay over the baking pan (coat with a layer of cooking oil or melted butter to avoid sticking). Cut off the excess edges (refer to picture above), then wrap the dough base with cling film and let it sits in the fridge for 2-3 hours or overnight.

Wrap the excess dough in a cling film to be used for pie top later.

7. Pour the stewed beef into the hardened dough base until full. Spread out the remaining dough with a rolling pin then cover the top completely. Cut off the excess dough at the edges and press the edges with a fork to form a neat lines pattern. Cut 2 or more small holes on the center top of the dough with a knife.

8. Preheat oven to 180°c. Brush the pie top with some egg yolk and bake for 15-20 minutes until it turns golden brown. 

Your kitchen will be filled with nice aroma of the pie once you open the oven door. Let it cool down then dig in and enjoy your piping hot pie... It's really mouth watering and my duo were actually fighting for more. :)

Need More?

You may want to hop over to Jamie's food tube and check out his video guide (click here to watch). This aussie beef pie is so delicious that it's worth the time to prepare it.