For many of us, working with a pastry recipe seems daunting sometimes. Lots of things can go wrong and horror stories of flopped pastry dishes abound. Yet pastry is something many of us love – puddings, pies, tarts…there are so many great pastry dishes that scream ‘comfort food’, a perfect indulgence in winter. Since we’re continuing with our student recipe series, we’re leaning more towards the ‘Come Dine With Me philosophy’ to pastry (meaning shop-bought pastry is in) as opposed to the ‘Great British Bake Off philosophy’ (which is to make your pastry from scratch). In fact, we’ve got the perfect pie dish any student can make…and it is both budget friendly and easy to make.

 

Ingredients:

• 500 grams of button mushrooms
• 35 grams plain white flour
• Salt and pepper to season
• 1kg of braising steak (stewing beef)
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 litre of beef stock (we use 2 x Knorr Rich Beef Stock Pots dissolved in 1 litre of boiling water but you can make your own beef stock or buy liquid stock from the supermarket)
• 1 x packet of shop-bought puff pastry (because it’s way easier than making it #ComeDineRules)
• 1 x egg to use as an egg wash for the pastry.

(Herbs to season or taste –optional)

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
• Slice your mushrooms and place in a bowl. Slice your stewing / braising steak into strips.
• In a separate bowl, season your flour with salt and pepper and add the strips of stewing steak into the flour to coat the meat.
• Put your meat, mushrooms and diced onions into a casserole dish and pour over the stock.
• Place the dish on a medium heat on your stove and bring to the boil. Ensure you stir the dish regularly to prevent it from catching.
• Once boiling, cover your dish with a lid and carefully place it into the oven to cook for 2 hours.
• Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool before placing in an oblong pie dish (2-litre pie dish aka, fairly large)
• Lightly roll out your shop-bought puff pastry to fit the length and width of the pie dish and cover the filling with the pastry (be sure to push the edges of the pastry down well on the sides of the dish). With the leftover pastry, make a few fun shapes to add as extra pie toppings (because pastry is terrible, said no pie-lover EVER!). Alternatively, you could use these extra puff pastry cooked shapes as a sweet pastry for a pudding dish (make a crème patisserie and layer this between your leftover pastry shapes, then dust with icing sugar and voila…pudding is done)
• Brush the pie with a beaten egg, make a hole in the centre of the pie pastry to release the steam during cooking and bake at 220 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.

Helpful tips:

• If your pie pastry is browning too quickly, cover with foil and continue baking.
• You can prepare your filling a day or two ahead.
• Pies are great served with mash, gravy and a portion of roast veg or peas.
• If you’re looking for some exceptional pastry tips, click here and learn all about different pastry dishes. Alternatively, click here to learn how to make your very own puff pastry.

Recipe adapted from Step-By-Step Baking by Caroline Bretherton.

(Main image credit: https://za.pinterest.com/pin/470063279837787114/ and small image: http://simply-delicious-food.com/steak-mushroom-pot-pies/)