Slow-Cooked Spiced Beef Pie

Hi, this recipe is from the Guardian's 'Feast' magazine, issue 203, 4th December 2020 by Rukimi Lyer on page 16. Alternatively, access online here.

This pie was really flavourful thanks to the long cook and the meat didn't dry out and there was enough stock for the whole duration of the cook. Normally with a long cooked dish like this, I have to top up the liquid levels to stop it drying out. But not this time! 

Although the recipe suggests topping with potatoes, (I used tinned potatoes on mine) it would also be really tasty served with rice, mashed potato or crusty bread (see my recipe for cottage loaf). If you wanted too, you could also stir in some extra sauces, like green pesto or harissa paste or tagine paste and start to experiment with different flavours. The ras el hanout added a spiced tang, but it wasn't overpowering, so this dish would be a good base to start with and see where it goes.

Enjoy!

Hazel :)

***

Dietary Info:

-Gluten Free

-No Nuts

{Double check some ras el hanouts.}

-Contains Dairy

{In place of butter, use a dairy-free spread, butter or use oil. And for the cheese, either leave it out entirely or find  an alternative.} 

-Unsuitable for Vegans

{See above for dairy. For the meat, replace with 2 tins of pulses, preferably two different ones for a range of textures, e.g. lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans, broad beans, black eyed beans. If you can find dried ones, you can use those too and they will cook in the long cooking time.} 

-Unsuitable for Vegetarians

{See above.}

Prep: 15 min

Cook: 3 hr 5 min

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

For the filling:

-2 onions, thinly sliced {I used brown onions. Also, sliced means not cut into dice: left long and thin.} 

-2 inches ginger, grated

-4 cloves garlic, grated

-800g organic beef stewing steak

-3 heaped tsp ras el hanout {Apparently, you can substitute this for curry powder, which is what I did and it worked fine.}

-1tsp sea salt flakes

-2tbsp olive oil {I used extra virgin olive oil.} 

-400ml beef stock

-1 x 400g tin tomatoes {If these aren't chopped you will want to mash them down a bit.} 

For the topping:

-1kg maris piper potatoes, very thinly sliced {I used 1 and a half tins of potatoes.}

-80g butter, melted

-1tsp sea salt flakes

-100g cheddar, grated {I left out the cheese as I don't like it.}

-Freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1: To prepare, preheat the oven to 220℃ / 200℃ fan / 425℉ / gas 7. Tip the onions, ginger, garlic, beef, ras el hanout, sea salt and olive oil into a wide-based casserole dish or roasting tin, and mix well. Rearrange the beef pieces so they form one layer on top, then transfer to the oven to brown for 20 minutes.

2: Turn the heat down to 170℃ / 150℃ fan / 300℉ / gas 2. Remove the casserole dish from the oven, and add the beef stock and the tomatoes. Stir well, cover, {Cover with either a lid for the pan, if you have one, and tin foil if not.} then return to the oven for a further hour and a half.

3: Remove the dish from the oven, and turn the heat up to 190℃ / 170℃ fan / 375℉ / gas 5. Mix the thinly sliced potatoes with the butter and salt in a large bowl, {Alternatively, layer onto the dish and pour over the butter and shake over the salt (it saves washing up).} and arrange on top of the beef, pressing down gently to let the lower layers submerge in the cooking liquid.

4: Scatter over the grated cheese and freshly ground black pepper, and return to the oven for another hour and 15 minutes, {Uncovered now unless the potatoes start to burn, in which case pop the lid / covering back on.} until the potatoes are golden brown and cooked through. {As I was using tinned potatoes, they were already cooked. So, I was just waiting for them to go crispy on top. However, half way through cooking our power went out and so I ended up with the full 1hour and 15 but split between a turned on oven and a hot but slowly cooling oven!} 

5: Let it stand for 10-15 minutes, then serve up with some greens – I like a mix of garlicky spring greens and tenderstem broccoli.  {I served with spring greens and garden peas.} Pairs well with a bordeaux or Argentinian malbec. 

While you're here...

I have a Pinterest for all my recipes, where you can save them to boards for the future and categorise them into different types of recipe e.g Sunday Dinners, picnic ideas etc. My account is @hazellikestocook, or find the link below. Also, I have a whole blog post explaining this in more detail here and https://hazelscookingandbakingblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/pinterest.html. 

https://pin.it/5xDvARk - my profile

This recipe:

https://pin.it/4vxl7FX