Beef and Guinness Pie combines two of Ireland’s best-known products, Guinness and Irish beef. Slow-cooking the filling for a long time creates tender, juicy beef. It also allows the Guinness flavor to permeate the meat and vegetables, making a luscious, thick sauce.
Serve this Pie with a crusty homemade loaf, Irish Soda Bread, mashed potatoes, or Colcannon.
This Beef and Guinness Pie is reprinted with permission from Angela Boggiano’s cookbook, Pie. It is delicious, and although it requires some time, you will enjoy it repeatedly.
Ingredients
Pastry:
- 7 ounces (200 g) all-purpose flour
- One pinch of kosher salt
- You can use 4 ounces ( 120 g) of unsalted Butter or a mix of Butter and lard.
- 2 to 3 tablespoons cold water
For the Pie
- 1 ounce (25 g) all-purpose flour
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Cut into cubes of 1 inch, 2 pounds (907g) chuck steak.
- 1 ounce (25 g) unsalted butter
- One tablespoon of vegetable oil
- Two large, thinly sliced onions
- Two large carrots cut into 1-inch cubes
- Two teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- Two teaspoons of tomato puree
- 2 1/8 cups (500 ml) Guinness or other stout beer
- 1 1/4 cups (300 m) hot beef stock
- Two teaspoons of granulated sugar
- Two tablespoons water
- One large egg, beaten
How to Make it
The pastry is easy to make
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- Gather ingredients.
- Add the Butter, flour, and salt to a large mixing bowl.
- Work the Butter into flour using your fingers or a Pastry Blender until the texture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Working quickly is essential to prevent the dough from warming up.
- Add two tablespoons of icy water and stir it with a cold knife. Continue until the dough binds itself together. Add more water, one teaspoon at a time.
- Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 15 minutes or more.
How to make the Beef and Guinness Pie
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- Gather ingredients.
- Place the flour in a large bowl and season it with black pepper and salt.
- Then, add the meat cubes and coat them evenly with the flour.
- Heat the Butter and oil in a large flameproof casserole dish with a heavy base until the Butter melts. Add the meat in small batches to the fat and brown it quickly for a few seconds. Remove the heart with a slotted teaspoon and set aside.
- Add the carrots and onions to the pan and gently fry for 2 minutes.
- Add the Guinness and hot beef stock to the pan. Also, add the Worcestershire Sauce, tomato puree, and Guinness. Add plenty of pepper and salt and stir until the mixture boils.
- Cover and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook for 2 hours until the meat has become tender and the sauce is thickened.
- Remove from heat and place in a 2-1/2-pint (1-1/2-liter) deep pie plate. Let cool.
- The oven should be heated to 400 F/200C/Gas 6. Roll the pastry out to 1/8 inch / 3 millimeters thick. The rolled-out Pie is cut into a 2-centimeter / 3/4-inch strip.
- Place the pastry strips around the edge of the pie plate, and press them down.
- The remaining pastry should be about 1 inch / 2 1/2 cm, more significant than the pie dish.
- Put a pie funnel, a pie bird, in the middle of the filling. It will hold the pastry up and prevent it from sinking into the filling.
- Place the lid on top, press the edge down and seal. Trim any excess pastry, and crimp edges using a fork.
- Make a hole at the center and brush the surface with a beaten egg. This will reveal the funnel. You can decorate the top with any pastry trimmings you want.
- Bake the pastry for 30 to 35 minutes until golden and crisp.