The Aussie staple? Why yes, I would have to say the humble meat pie is a regular in the Australian diet. You can’t walk into a bakery without seeing these savory delights. Ahh… my mouth waters at the thought!
This is a delicious recipe for a ‘Shredded’ beef pie – chunks of steak are baked for hours until they fall apart. They are wonderfully indulgent parcels of pastry. If you have never tried a meat pie, well I assure you this is the recipe for you! You will be converted forever.
Shredded Beef Steak Pies
Makes 12 individual pies or 2 large pies or 24 mini pies
Ingredients
- 1.5kg lean diced beef
- seasoned flour for dusting
- 30ml (1 fl oz) olive oil
- 6 onions, chopped
- 2 stalks of celery, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 150g (5 oz) bacon, diced
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 1/2 cups (375ml) Guinness stout beer
- 30ml (1 fl oz) Worcestershire sauce
- 10 springs of thyme
- 40gm plain flour
- Store bought shortcrust or puff pastry as required (QTY’s will depend on what size pies you decide to make)
- 1 egg, beaten
Method
- Preheat oven to 180c (360f). Dust beef in flour, shaking to remove excess. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat, add beef and cook 4-5 minutes on each side or until brown, then transfer to a large, deep roasting pan.
- In the same frying pan add onion, celery, carrot, garlic and bacon and cook for 4-5 minutes until vegetables are tender then transfer to the roasting pan with the beef.
- Add stock, stout and worcestershire sauce to the frying pan, bring to the boil then pour over the beef and vegetable mixture. Add thyme and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Cover the roasting pan tightly with foil and bake for 5 hours or until meet falls apart.
- Strain the liquid from beef, keeping the liquid – set aside. Using 2 forks, coarsely shred the beef. Put the reserved liquid in to a saucepan over medium-high heat, simmer for 15 minutes or until liquid is reduced to 2 cups.
- Place flour in a small bowl, add enough water to make a thin, smooth paste, then add to the simmering liquid and cook, whisking continuously for 4-5 minutes or until smooth and thick. Season to taste, pour over beef mixture and mix to combine. Cool to room temperature.
- Prepare you pie cases: with store bought pastry, line the bottom of the pie baking tin(s) with ‘Shortcrust pastry’, fill to the brim with pie filling then cover with ‘puff pastry’. With a fork, press down on the edge of the pie lid to seal. Cut 2 holes in the lid to allow steam to escape while baking.
- Heat oven to 220c, brush pies with the beaten egg and bake for 20-40 minutes depending on size or until pies are golden and puffy on top and the filling is heated through.
I made 7 individual pies and 12 mini pies. I baked my mini pies in a muffin tin. It worked fabulously!
Those look great! I love the combination of beef and onion pies. Sounds fantastic for a change. Your pictures are lovely:)
Yummo! Those little savory pies need to make it to my dinner table real soon.
They look great – will have to give them a try when the weather turns cool again!!
These little pies are so versatile, and they’d be great for entertaining!
These are awesome. I haven’t made meat pies from scratch for such a long time, but its fun isn’t it and your so right….., absolutely NOTHING is as yummy as a really good meat pie.
Thanks for the recipe Susan..
Beef and beer! That’s my kind of pie!
I remember the “shock” of pie popularity when I moved to the UK – they’re everywhere! But then the British winter rolls around and you understand why they’re so loved, they’re the ultimate cold weather comfort food. Yours look fantastic – portable pies!
Wow. These look delicious. The pastry looks so flaky…just the way I love it. Thank you for sharing. Here’s to a fabulous weekend!
These look fabulous. I have never made small pies before, but I happen to have a roll of the divine Careme pastry in my freezer this weekend …
They really are just too cute! The shredded beef filling really goes a long way if you make the mini versions. Great for kids birthdays or as a ‘starter/finger food’!
These look so tempting! I know my boys would love these- they’ll all be home for several days at Thanksgiving and this would be a great thing to make for them when they get tired of turkey.
These look so delicious, and i’m reading on a full belly!! Must make them for my farewell before I move to America. Aussie Aussie Aussie!
The filling sounds delicious – I’d probably add some mushrooms – but that’s only me!
Yum! These look and sound delicious! Great recipe:)
Up to step 6 with these now and the smell and taste so far is fantastic.
Made these this weekend and they are yummy. I think maybe the meat mixture could be done in a slow cooker also. And I used my electric pie maker and made 10 pies and froze the rest of the meat mixture to make the next batch of pies. Easier that freezing pies. Thanks for the recipe. 10/10
Omg!I made these pies,they are so freakin good!my picky kids who won’t eat anything loved them.