Dinner · British

Minced beef & onion pie

Name: Minced beef & onion pie
Total time: 115 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 3 Brown onions; 1 tbsp Vegetable oil; 500g Beef mince; 2 tbsp Plain flour; 1 tbsp Tomato purée; 1 tsp Dried thyme; 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce; 1 cube Beef stock cube, in 400ml water; 1 sheet Ready-rolled puff pastry; 1 Egg, beaten; 300g Frozen peas

Three onions cooked down into a rich mince gravy, under a crisp, puffed pastry lid.

Start to finish: 1 hr 55 min
Hands-on: 29 min
In the fridge: 3 days
Freezes: Yes

Contains gluten, eggs, celery, fish

Ingredients

4 portions

3Brown onions
1 tbspVegetable oil
500gBeef mince
2 tbspPlain flour
1 tbspTomato purée
1 tspDried thyme
1 tbspWorcestershire sauce
1 cubeBeef stock cube, in 400ml water
1 sheetReady-rolled puff pastry
1Egg, beaten
300gFrozen peas

Plus salt, pepper and water.

Method

1
Halve and thinly slice the onions.
2
Heat the oil in a large pan and brown the mince over a high heat for 8 minutes, breaking it up, until no pink remains. Add the onions, turn the heat down and cook for 12 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and sweet.
3
Stir in the flour, tomato purée and thyme for a minute, then the Worcestershire sauce and the stock cube crumbled into 400ml boiling water. Simmer with the lid ajar for 25 minutes, until thick and glossy. Season well.
27 min, mostly hands-off
4
Tip into a pie dish of about 1.2 litres and leave to cool for 20 minutes, as hot filling melts the pastry before it can puff. Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan).
20 min, mostly hands-off
5
Unroll the pastry over the dish, trim the edges and press them onto the rim. Brush with beaten egg and cut a small slit in the middle to let the steam out.
6
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and deep golden and the filling is bubbling.
30 min, mostly hands-off
7
Let the pie settle for 5 minutes while you boil the peas for 3 minutes. Serve, or cool the pie, cut it into portions and pack for the fridge or freezer.

On the day

Reheat portions in the oven at 180C (160C fan) for 20 minutes, until piping hot in the middle, to keep the pastry crisp. The microwave works but softens the lid. Serve with the peas, plus mash if you are hungry.

Cook’s tip

For the crispest pastry, freeze just the cooled filling. On the day, defrost it, top with a fresh sheet of pastry and bake as above.