On recent travels through Ireland, I partook in my fair share of Irish pub fare. I sampled Irish Stews, Steak and Ale Pies and Bacon and Cabbage dishes from Belfast to Cork! All were amazing and regionally different.
After arriving home, I've been working on a recipe for the perfect pie to share with you. My version includes a little bit of a North American twist - vegetables! I just can't help myself, I'm a veggie girl, not only on the pie's side, but also in the pie! So, while the recipe below may not be traditional, it is good! Hope you like it.
Instead of typical pie pastry, I went with pre-made puff pastry. I think puff pastry browns so nicely and adds a flaky crunch to the pie that regular pie dough doesn't. Puff Pastry is easy to find, it can be purchased in any grocery store freezer section. Try look for one that is all butter, the quality and the extra flakiness can't be beat! Feel free to cut out little shamrocks or make personalized messages with cookie cutters with the extra dough for the top of your pie.
Irish Steak and Stout Pie
Ingredient
2 pounds beef cut into cubes (I like to purchase a nice roast or steak and cube it myself, you could buy pre-cubed chuck beef, just look for good quality meat)
1/4 c flour
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt + more to season
1/2 tsp pepper + more to season
2 tablespoons unsalted butter to sear meat + 1 tsp to grease ramekins
3 leeks cut into 1/4" rings and then washed to remove any sand and dried
11/2 onions sliced into thin 1/4 moon slices
3 celery stalks, chopped into 1/8" slices
3 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/8" circles
2 garlic cloves diced
6 sprigs thyme + 1 tablespoon leaves + more for garnish
1 tsp chopped rosemary leaves +more for garnish
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
11/2 c beef broth (try look for the less-sodium container)
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 c stout (I used Guinness)
1/4 c tomato paste
3/4 c peas (frozen)
1 sheet frozen puff pastry
1 egg whisked (for pastry wash)
*parsley, optional for garnish
Method
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Use 1 tsp of butter to grease ramekins and/or pie dish. With this recipe I made 1 - 8" pie dish and 3 - 6" shallow ramekins.
In a large zip top bag, place beef cubes, flour, paprika, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Shake until the meat is covered with the flour mixture. This step is important, as the flour will also thicken the stew later.
Melt 1 tablespoons of butter in a high heat dutch oven. You will use the second tablespoon of butter for the next batch. Brown the beef in batches, making sure to sear all sides, but not fully cook the meat. This should take about 7 minutes per batch in total. Place seared beef on a plate and set aside and repeat starting with butter until all beef is browned.
While meat is searing, prep vegetables. Once leeks, onions, celery, carrots, garlic, thyme and rosemary are ready, turn dutch oven down to medium heat.
If needed add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add vegetables. Cook until onions become translucent and veggies are lightly browned, but still a bit crunchy, scraping up all the brown bits from the beef as the veggies cook. Season with remaining salt and pepper.
Add beef broth, worcestershire sauce, stout and tomato paste to vegetable mixture. Return meat and any juices left on the plate to the dutch oven. Bring mixture to a low boil and then cover and simmer for one hour. Remove lid, add frozen peas and allow mixture to thicken uncovered for an additional 15 - 20 minutes, until desired thickness is reached. Remove any remaining thyme stems from the mixture.
Using a floured surface roll puff pastry according to package instructions. Lightly place pie dish and ramekins on top of rolled puff pastry and cut circles using a paring knife that are 2" bigger than the container to allow for pastry overhang. Using left-over pastry, I took a cookie cutter and made a few additional shamrock toppers.
Once meat mixture has reached desired thickness, transfer to greased serving dishes or keep in dutch over if you are making one big pie. Top dishes with puff pastry, making sure to pinch or seal dough as you form it to the vessel. Using a pastry brush top pastry with egg wash and add coarse sea salt to top. Bake for 25 minutes or until pastry tops are golden brown.
Remove from oven, let set for 5 minutes. Garnish with additional thyme leaves, rosemary, parsley and any festive shamrock cut-outs you made. I baked the shamrocks separately on a parchment lined baking sheet with the pies for 25 minutes.
*Recipe Tip:
1. Make sure you use a stout that you like the flavour of in your pie, as it does add flavour undertones to your pie. Guinness is a great option, or if you prefer to purchase a local beer, I recently tried and loved Hoyne Brewery's, "Finnegan's Irish Stout". Finnegan's Stout would be amazing in this pie and then paired with the finished meal to reinforce the flavours. If you are not into beer, then a nice full-bodied red wine would be amazing, or if you're looking for something slightly lighter but still Irish, how about a Black & Tan. A beer composed of half Pale Ale (or Lager) and half Guinness (or Finnegan's), carefully poured over the back of a spoon to get a light/dark gradient.
As the Irish say, Sláinte! Happy St Patrick's Day.
Krista
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