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What are English pasties?
Pasties are a meat and vegetable filled turnover pastry originating from South West England, but have become popular throughout Great Britain. The small hand held meat pies are associated with the mining history of the area as many coal miners would take them to eat on their lunch breaks in the mines.
Ingredients
- 3/4 lb. of pork steak
- 1/2 lb. of round steak
- 2 medium-sized onions
- 1 1/2 cup of ruta bega
- 5 medium potatoes
- 1 1/2 tbs. of salt
- 1/2 tsp. of pepper
Pastry
- 3 cups of flour
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 1 cup of shortening
- 3/4 cup of water
Cookware
- Knives
- Bowls
- Vegetable Peelers
- Wooden Spoon
- Sheet Pan
Instructions
1. Cut up the meat (this part can be done the night before).
2. Dice up the onions.
3. Mix all pastry ingredients together in a bowl.
4. Peel the potatoes and ruta bega.
5. Roll out ten 9 1/2 inch pastries.
6. Slice the ruta bega and potatoes.
7. Grate the vegetables.
8. Add the vegetables, onions, and meat to a mixing bowl.
9. Add seasoning and mix with a wooden spoon.
10. Divide the mixture onto the ten pieces of dough.
11. Close the pastries with another piece and then crimp with your fork when all are covered.
12. Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for approximately one hour, or until pastry is golden and fully cooked through (no soft spots of dough).
Courtesy of Emily Hill
About This Recipe
This recipe came with my family when they immigrated from Cornwall, England to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in Ironwood. The pastie story I’ve heard is they were baked in the English coal miner’s homes early in the morning. These meat and potato pies would remain warm until consumed during the miner’s underground lunch break.
My grandmother, Mary Trezise, and her brother, Bob Trezise, loved pasties and preserved the tradition their parents, Myrtle and Arthur Trezise, established by making them for family members.
My father, Mary’s son Philip Johnson, also loves making these with my mom, Molly Johnson. My siblings and I have fond memories of making pasties as a Christmas Eve tradition. I remember our Grandma Mary helping us many of the years before she passed away.
We get a chuckle out of Uncle Bob sharing in this recipe note, that he cut his finger grating vegetables for the pasties. He said what a terrible time he had sealing the pastry for that batch of pasties. He and his wife, Jo, make them for their extended family as a tradition in their Lansing, Michigan home.
Delicious and hearty, you can’t go wrong with a classic meat pastie!
Meat
- Cut up the meat (this part can be done the night before).
- Dice up the onions.
- Mix all pastry ingredients together in a bowl.
- Peel the potatoes and ruta bega.
- Roll out ten 9 1/2 inch pastries.
- Slice the ruta bega and potatoes.
- Grate the vegetables.
- Add the vegetables, onions, and meat to a mixing bowl.
- Add seasoning and mix with a wooden spoon.
- Divide the mixture onto the ten pieces of dough.
- Close the pastries with another piece and then crimp with your fork when all are covered.
- Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for approximately one hour, or until pastry is golden and fully cooked through (no soft spots of dough).
meat and potato, pasties, pastry
This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Emily Hill. Submit your own story here.
Hearty One-Pot Chicken And Rice With Cabbage Slaw
Authentic Italian ‘Sunday’ Tomato Sauce And Meatballs
Late Father’s Traditional Spanish Canelones
These easy meat and potato pasties are so simple and make the perfect picnic or party treat for sharing with friends and family. A variation on the classic Cornish pasty, these meat and potato pasties are filling, delicious and much tastier than shop-bought versions. This recipe shows you how to make 3 regular sized pasties. The succulent beef mince and mashed potato make a mouth-watering filling. This recipe is a great way of using up leftovers from previous dinners too. If you want to save some time, you could buy shop-bought pastry instead to speed up the prepping stage. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Make sure your pasties are piping hot when reheating and before serving. If you want to add some more veggies to these pasties we’d recommend a handful of spinach or kale to up your 5-a-day count.
- 8oz(250g) lean mince beef
- Half a large onion
- Salt and pepper
- 1 level tsp of mixed herbs
- 2tsp olive oil
- 1tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 beef stock cube
- 11oz (300g) mashed potato
For the pastry
- 6oz (150g) self-raising flour
- Pinch of salt
- 2-3tbsp water
- 1 egg to glaze
Method
- Chop the onion finely and fry in a medium-sized sauce pan with the oil, when the onion is soft, add the mince.
- Fry the mince over a moderate heat until it turns brown. Add the herbs, pepper and salt, and a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Let this cook for 2 mins, then sprinkle in the beef stock cube. Cook for another couple of minutes so it reduces any liquid from the meat. Take off the heat and put to one side to cool slightly.
- To make the pastry, rub the margarine and flour together in a mixing bowl until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add the water bit by bit and start to mix with your hand – the mixture will start to stick together to form pastry.
- Sprinkle some flour on your rolling surface to stop the pastry from sticking, and divide into 3 equally sized balls. Roll each ball out on your floured surface to just slightly larger than the size of a small tea plate. Using a tea plate as a stencil, cut the pastry and you will be left with 3 circular pieces of pastry.
- Add the mash potato to the mince and mix together, divide into 3 and place in the middle of each pastry circle.
- Brush around the edge of your pastry with water then turn one edge across the top of the other. Crimp the edge with your fingertips to seal it.
- In a cup, beat the egg with a fork then brush the egg over the top of the pasties. Place on a greased tray and put in the oven (pre-heated to 160°C) on the middle shelf and bake for 15-20 mins. When golden brown remove from the oven and serve.
Top Tip for making Meat and potato pasties
Beth Hildreth, 57 from Manchester says if your pastry or dough keeps sticking to the rolling pin, put the rolling pin in the freezer for a few minutes. When you start rolling again, the mixture shouldn’t stick so much.
Jessica Dady is Senior Content Editor at Goodto.com and has over 10 years of experience as a digital editor, specialising in all things food, recipes, and SEO. From the best food hampers to cookbooks, from the best cake stands to kitchen appliances, Jessica has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to must-have food products. A passionate baker, she spends some of her time creating celebration cakes for friends and family including her two lucky children.
This hearty meat and potato pie is a traditional Yorkshire dish made with steak and potatoes, covered in a soft buttery suet pastry crust. Serve with a bowl of mushy peas or your favourite vegetables for a deliciously comforting supper. Or as they say in Yorkshire ‘for a meal that will stick to your ribs’
**As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.**
Yorkshire meat and potato pie
If there’s one thing you can say about Yorkshire people, it’s that we love a good meaty pie, and this meat and potato pie is one of the best. I’m never happier than when I’m presented with a plate of succulent meaty filling, covered with a layer of crispy pastry.
You can make a pie in so many different ways. Encase the whole thing in crispy shortcrust pastry, as in this Bacon and Egg Pie. Or you could just cover the filling with a layer of well-risen puff pastry, as in this Steak and Kidney Pie. You can make large pies, or individual pot pies, like these Beef Pot Pies with Pepper Sauce. Or even make a pie out of cheesy choux pastry as in Chicken and Mushroom Puff Pie.
This meat and potato pie is made from succulent cubes of beef, cooked to fork-tender perfection with lots of potatoes (it’s called meat and potato pie for a reason) and loads of thick meaty gravy. The pie is covered with a layer of buttery, soft suet pastry that soaks up the gravy like a sponge, as it bakes, leaving the underside of the pastry soft and full of flavour.
Believe me, experiencing a plate of meat and potato pie, with a generous helping of traditional British mushy peas, should be on everyone’s bucket list!
Just look at how this pie is absolutely crammed with succulent meat and tender potatoes.
What you will need
If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can make the filling in a large saucepan on the stove instead, and I’ve included instructions below.
You will also need a frying pan for browning the meat and onions, a sharp knife and a chopping board.
For making the pastry, you will need a mixing bowl.
And of course, let’s not forget a baking dish for baking the pie. You will need a dish approximately 12″ x 8″ x 2.5″ deep (or 30cm x 20cm x 6cm)
You can get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this meat and potato pie on the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
This is a generous recipe and will easily feed 4 hungry people.
For the meat filling:
I haven’t included salt in the photograph, but a small amount of salt does improve the flavour of the meat and potato filling.
- Beef cubes – this is good quality stewing steak which is chopped into 1-inch cubes. You can use chuck, flank, or even topside for this pie.
- Onions – roughly chopped. Don’t make them too small. They will soften and soak into the gravy on cooking.
- Potatoes peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces. Reserve one potato and grate it instead of chopping it. The grated potato will serve to thicken the gravy. You will need approximately 1 cup of grated potato.
- Worcestershire sauce – Worcestershire sauce and meat and potato pie go together like bacon and eggs. I know people who add extra Worcestershire sauce when the pie is on their plate!
- Tomato puree – (also known as tomato paste) this is highly concentrated tomatoes, and should not be confused with tomato ketchup or tomato sauce.
- Dijon mustard – for a bit of a bite.
- Beef stock – you can dissolve 1 stock cube per cup of water to make instant stock if you don’t have real beef stock to hand.
- Salt – to your own taste
- Sunflower oil for browning the meat.
For the suet pastry
You can cheat and buy either shortcrust or puff pastry and use that to cover the pie instead, but honestly, this pastry mixes in minutes and it tastes so good!!!
- Self-raising flour – if you don’t have self-raising flour just use plain all purpose flour and add 1 teaspoon baking powder to each cup of flour.
- Beef suet – you can buy this in packets from your local supermarket. I use a brand called Atora Shredded Suet. It is available in both Beef and Vegetable varieties and you can order it from Amazon. I do recommend you try to get hold of some if you possibly can – the suet pastry really makes this dish.
This is what the beef suet looks like when it comes out of the packet.
- Butter – this is rubbed into the flour with the suet.
- Cold water – for mixing into the pastry
- Salt – if you have a problem with salt, you can leave this out, but it does enhance the flavour of the pastry.
How to make a meat and potato pie
Start by making the filling.
Chop the steak into 1-inch cubes, remove any fat and discard.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and brown the meat on all sides. Do this in batches so as not over-crowd the pan, otherwise you will end up with a lot of moisture in the pan which we don’t want. You should aim to get the pan quite hot and just sear the meat to seal it.
Transfer the browned meat from the pan into either a pressure cooker or a large saucepan.
Peel the onions and chop them coarsely.
Fry them gently, in the same pan that the meat was cooked in, for about 5 minutes until they have started to soften and have picked up any residue left over from the meat.
Add them to the meat in the pressure cooker or saucepan.
Dissolve 2 beef stock cubes in 2 cups (1 pint) of boiling water.
Mix the remaining ingredients into the stock and pour it over the meat and vegetables.
After 30 minutes release the pressure. The meat will be almost cooked and the gravy will be very runny.
Now stir in the cubed and grated and potatoes.
Adding grated potato is my secret tip for getting lovely thick gravy.
The grated potato will disintegrate as it cooks, and the starch that it releases will thicken the gravy perfectly.
Set your pressure cooker to a medium setting for 10 minutes. I use the ‘Meat’ setting on my Pressure King Pro.
After 10 minutes, release the pressure and check the consistency of the gravy.
If you find the grated potato has not thickened the gravy sufficiently, make a slurry with a tablespoon of cornstarch or cornflour and a couple of tablespoons of water and drizzle that slowly into the gravy over a low heat until the gravy thickens sufficiently. You may not need all the slurry, so don’t tip it in all at once.
Taste for seasoning and add more salt if necessary.
Tip the filling into a baking dish.
Set aside to cool. This is important – you don’t want to put the pastry on top of the hot filling or it will melt before it gets into the oven and not rise properly. Let the filling cool down to lukewarm.
Cooking on the stove top
Cover the pan with a tightly-fitting lid and simmer gently for at least 2 hours until the meat is tender. Keep your eye on it and top up with an extra cup of stock if necessary.
After 2 hours, add the potatoes and continue to cook until the potatoes are tender and the gravy has thickened. This should take 20 to 25 minutes.
Make the suet pastry and bake
This is my favourite recipe for suet pastry. The addition of butter adds extra flavour and the pastry bakes to a crispy softness that just melts in your mouth.
The texture of unbaked suet pastry is slightly different to normal pastry. It has quite a thick texture, with knobbly bits in it where the suet hasn’t broken down. Don’t worry – the suet will melt into the pastry as it bakes, producing a soft flaky texture.
Pre-heat the oven to 200F / 400C
Place the flour, salt, suet and butter into a mixing bowl and rub together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
The suet will not break down completely, but this is normal and expected. It will melt into the pastry as it bakes.
Add three-quarters of the water and mix with your fingers until the dough comes together in a soft non-sticky ball.
If you need the remaining water, add it a tablespoon at a time so that you don’t make the dough too sticky.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and leave it to rest for half an hour.
Dust your work surface lightly with flour, and roll out the pastry into a rectangle large enough to cover your baking dish.
Lay the pastry carefully over the pie dish. It’s fine if the pastry rests on top of the meat and potato filling.
Use a fork to press the pastry against the sides of the pie dish. Trim away any excess pastry with a sharp knife.
Prick the top of the pastry with the fork to allow any steam to escape while it is in the oven.
Brush the top of the pie lightly with milk.
Bake in a preheated oven (200C/400F) for 25 to 30 minutes until the pastry is cooked and golden brown.
Remove the pie from the oven and serve hot with your favourite vegetables.
The traditional Yorkshire way of serving it is with mushy peas.
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Tips and FAQ
Can I freeze meat and potato pie?
If you want to freeze the unbaked pie, my advice would be to assemble the pie in a large disposable aluminium pie dish. That way your baking dish can remain in your cupboard 🙂 .Just wrap the cooled assembled pie in a layer of tinfoil and cover with one or two layers of plastic cling film before freezing.You can freeze this pie for up to 3 months.To use, remove from the freezer and allow to defrost in the refrigerator then bake according to the recipe instructions.Alternatively, you could just freeze the cooled filling. When you are ready to make the pie, defrost the filling in the refrigerator, pour into a pie dish, cover with pastry and bake according to the recipe instructions.
Can I make this in advance?
You can make both the filling and the pastry up to 2 days in advance and store them (separately and covered) in the fridge.When you are ready to make the pie just tip the meat into a pie dish and top with the pastry and bake as per the recipe instructions.
Do I have to use suet pastry?
You don’t HAVE to use suet pastry, but then you won’t get the lovely soaked-up gravy and suet combination. You could top the pie with puff pastry or shortcrust pastry instead.
Save for later
If you would like to try this meat and potato pie yourself, why not save the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards. Just click on the image below.
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Other hearty meals
If you enjoyed this traditional Yorkshire meat and potato pie, perhaps you’d like to try one of these too.
The recipe
Pie filling
- 570 grams stewing steak
- / 680 grams potatoes
- beef stock cubes
- or to taste
- 1 to 2 for browning the meat and onions
- / 200 grams self-raising flour
- / 100 grams beef suet
- 60 grams butter
- Cut the meat into 1-inch cubes1¼ pounds 570 grams stewing steak
- Heat the sunflower oil in a frying pan and brown the meat in batches. Place browned meat in a pressure cooker or saucepan and set aside.1 to 2 Tablespoons Sunflower oil
- Dissolve the stock cubes in 2 cups of boiling water.2 beef stock cubes, 2 cups boiling water
- Add the Worcestershire sauce, tomato puree, Dijon mustard and salt to the stock and stir well. Pour the stock over the meat and onions.2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons tomato puree, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, ½ teaspoon salt
- If using a pressure cooker – cook the meat on the highest setting for 30 minutes (‘Stew’ function on my Pressure King Pro)
- If cooking in a saucepan on the stove-top – cover with a lid and simmer for 2 hours. Check occasionally and top up with extra stock if it starts to boil dry.
- Add the potatoes (both chopped and grated) to the meat.
- If using a pressure cooker – cook the meat and potatoes for a further 10 minutes on medium setting (‘Meat’ setting on my Pressure King Pro’)
- If cooking in a saucepan on the stove-top – cover with a lid and boil for 20 to 25 minutes until the potatoes are soft and the gravy has thickened.
- Taste for seasoning and add more salt if necessary.
- Tip the meat and potato mix into a large pie dish and allow to cool.
- Preheat oven to 200°C / 400°F
- Mix the flour, salt and suet together in a mixing bowl.1½ cups / 200 grams self-raising flour, ½ cup / 100 grams beef suet, ½ teaspoon salt
- Add the butter and rub into the flour to form breadcrumbs2 ounce 60 grams butter
- Place the pastry on a floured surface and roll out with a rolling pin or press out with your fingers until the pastry is large enough to cover your pie dish.
- Place the pastry on top of the pie. It should rest on the surface of the meat.
- Use a fork to press the pastry aginst the edges of the pie dish. Trim away any excess pastry. Prick holes on top of the pastry with a fork and brush the pastry lightly with milk.
- Remove from oven and serve with mushy peas or your favourite vegetables.
When browning the meat, do it in small batches. You just want to sear the outside of the meat. If you overcrowd the pan the meat will start to boil and release its juices.
This pie needs a lot of liquid, as some of the liquid will soak up into the pastry while it is in the oven.
Cooking time if making on the stove is 3 hours.
You shouldn’t need to add any thickening agent. The grated potato will cook away and thicken the gravy naturally. If you use a waxy potato, it may not have sufficient starch to thicken the gravy. In this case, just make a slurry with cornstarch and water, and drizzle that into the gravy, stirring over a low heat, until the gravy thickens sufficiently.
Packets of beef suet are available from Amazon. The brand I use is called Atora Shredded Suet and is available in both Beef and Vegetable varieties. You can use either variety for this pastry.
Calories are based on the assumption that this pie will feed 4 people.
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
Unless otherwise stated, a cup is the standard US cup containing 240 ml. In all my recipes this cup is assumed to hold 140g of flour. For help converting other ingredients between cups, grams, ounces and other measures, see my recipe conversion calculator.
All my recipes are developed and tested at sea-level. For tips on adjusting recipes for high altitudes see my post on baking at high altitudes.
If you made this recipe I’d love it if you could leave me a comment and let me know how it went!
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I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t love a good pie! And this easy steak and kidney pie, topped with crispy puff pastry and overflowing with succulent chunks of steak and kidney, is one of the best! I like to serve this pie with a helping of freshly steamed vegetables!
Homemade Steak and Kidney Pie
This easy homemade steak and kidney pie has it all – it’s packed with juicy vegetables and succulent chunks of steak and kidney, swimming in delicious gravy and covered with a layer of crispy puff pastry.
My favourite bit is how the edges of the pastry are all crispy and golden and the middle has rested on the pie filling, causing the underside of the pastry to soak up some of the lovely meaty gravy. Yummy.
This homemade steak and kidney pie is so easy to put together and doesn’t take too long to make. I normally make a double batch of the filling and freeze half, so when I’m in a hurry I just have to defrost the filling in the microwave and cover with puff pastry and pop it in the oven for the ultimate homemade steak and kidney pie in half an hour.
To speed things up, I like to make the filling for the steak and kidney pie in the pressure cooker (or instant pot), but there’s no reason why you can’t make the filling on the stovetop too. I’ve included instructions for both methods below.
It’s versatile too – if you don’t have puff pastry to hand then you could just serve the filling as a stew, spooned over rice with additional vegetables on the side.
You don’t have to stick to either my choice or quantities of vegetables – you could use a mixture of any root vegetable. Sweet potato would be good with this, or chopped butternut; or why not stir a handful of frozen peas through before putting it into the pie dish?
You will also need a sharp knife for chopping everything up, and a chopping board to protect your work surface.
For baking the pie you will need a suitably sized baking dish. The one that I used was 11″ x 7″ x 2.5″ deep, but if you add extra vegetables to the filling you may find that you need a larger sized dish. I like this set of baking dishes because they come in various sizes, so you’ve always got the right size dish to hand.
**You can get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions on how to make this steak and kidney on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**
These ingredients make a steak and kidney pie that will easily feed 4 people, and you may even have some left over.
These are the ingredients you will need for making a steak and kidney pie:
- Stewing Steak – cut into bite-sized pieces. You can buy ready-cubed meat or buy a large piece and cut it to size yourself. The best beef cuts to use would be the tougher cuts of meat such as chuck, flank, braising steak or topside.
- Ox Kidney – cut into 1/2″ pieces. You can buy this ready-cut, but I prefer to buy a whole kidney and cut it myself. That way I can be sure that I’m not including any extra fat or gristle.
- Flour – seasoned with salt – is used to coat the beef before it is browned. The flour also serves to thicken the gravy.
- Stock – you will need beef stock. I normally just dissolve a stock cube in a cup of boiling water.
- Vegetables – you will need 5 to 6 cups of chopped vegetables, but don’t get too hung up on the quantities. If you add more, simply use a larger baking dish to fit it all in. I normally use onions, potatoes and carrots, but you can add whatever you fancy. Chopped swedes, turnips, parsnips or leeks would be nice, but I would stay away from the softer vegetables such as cauliflower and broccoli because these would turn mushy. If you are going to add frozen peas, I would stir them into the filling just before adding them to the pie.
- Shredded Cabbage – I’ve listed this separately from the other vegetables because this is my secret for luscious gravy. The cabbage cooks away to almost nothing during cooking and helps to thicken and flavour the gravy.
- Tomatoes – I use chopped fresh tomatoes, but I also add one or two tablespoons of tomato puree (tomato paste) for extra flavour.
- Worcestershire sauce – hubby would never forgive me if I didn’t put Worcestershire sauce in a meat pie!
- Olive Oil – for browning the meat and onions
- Cornflour – mixed with a little cold water to form a thin paste and used for thickening only if needed
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
- Puff Pastry (not pictured) – I use shop-bought because it’s so easy to use. You will find you only need half a roll. If you bought frozen pastry, let it defrost before trying to use it.
- 1 beaten Egg (not pictured) to brush the pastry
What to do
I like to get all the ingredients prepared before I start cooking so that everything is to hand when I need it.
- Cut the steak into bite-sized pieces and chop the kidneys into half-inch pieces. If you used a whole kidney, discard the inner fat and core.
- Mix the flour and salt together.
- Peel the vegetables and cut them into small cubes. Half an inch is fine – you don’t want huge pieces of vegetables in your pie, smaller pieces are best.
- Shred the cabbage finely – I normally cut it into one-quarter-inch wide slices.
- Chop the tomatoes. There is no need to peel them.
- If you are using a stock cube, dissolve it in one cup of boiling water, then mix in the Worcestershire sauce and the tomato puree.
If your pressure cooker has a browning or saute function, you can use the pressure cooker to brown the meat (and save on washing an extra pan). I’ve done mine in a frying pan because it’s easier to see in the step-by-step images.
Note – when making the filling I like to cook the meat with the cabbage, onions and tomatoes for half of the cooking time, then add the potatoes and carrots and let them cook for the remaining time. This way the potatoes and carrots do not overcook.
Pat the beef with a paper towel to remove any moisture and then coat the meat with the flour and salt.
Heat the oil and fry the steak over a medium heat, stirring continuously, until it is nicely browned. Don’t overcrowd the pan as this will lower the temperature and cause the meat to draw water and boil, rather than fry.
Do this step in batches if necessary.
Once the steak has been browned, transfer it to your pressure cooker.
Fry the onions gently in the same pan (you may need an extra splash of oil) until they start to soften then add them to the meat in the pressure cooker.
Add the chopped kidneys, tomatoes and shredded cabbage to the pressure cooker and pour over the prepared stock.
Stir to combine.
Select the stew function on the pressure cooker (this is the highest setting on my model) and cook for 20 minutes.
Allow the pressure to release.
Now stir in the remaining vegetables and cook on ‘Meat’ function (second highest setting) for 15 minutes.
Stir the filling and check the consistency of the gravy. It should have thickened sufficiently from the flour that the meat was browned in.
If the gravy is too thin, thicken it by stirring in the cornflour and water paste (use the ‘browning’ function to keep the pressure cooker hot) until the gravy has thickened to your liking.
Tip the filling into a baking dish and allow it to cool.
If you put the pastry on while the filling is still hot, the pastry will go soggy and not rise properly.
Cut a piece of pastry from the roll (I needed half of a roll) and lay it over the dish.
Use your fingers to crimp the edges of the pastry to seal it against the edges of the dish. Prick the pastry with a fork to allow the steam to escape as the pie cooks in the oven.
Brush the top of the pastry with a little lightly beaten egg to encourage the pastry to brown.
I like to place the pie dish onto a baking sheet to catch any drops of gravy that may bubble out while it is cooking.
Bake for 25 to 20 minutes in a preheated oven (200C/400F) until the pastry is golden brown.
Serve hot with extra vegetables if desired.
How do I cook this on the stove?
I don’t have an electric pressure cooker – can I use a stovetop pressure cooker?
Can I freeze steak and kidney pie?
You can freeze the filling for up to 3 months. To use, let it defrost in the refrigerator. Once defrosted, pour it into a pie dish and cover it with puff pastry. Bake as per the recipe instructions.You can also freeze the unbaked (but fully assembled) pie. Wrap it in a layer of tinfoil and then wrap it in a double layer of plastic wrap. Then put it into a large plastic bag.I would suggest assembling the pie in a disposable aluminium baking dish so you don’t have to freeze your baking dish.Let the pie defrost before cooking. Alternatively, cook from frozen, but lower the temperature to 180C/375F and allow an extra 5 to 8 minutes.
If you would like to try this recipe for steak and kidney pie, why not pin it to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily. Just click the image below.
Other recipes
If this steak and kidney pie is not quite what you are looking for perhaps you’d like to try some of my other pie recipes.
Preparation
- Cut the steak into bite-sized pieces and chop the kidneys into half-inch pieces. If you used a whole kidney, discard the inner fat and core.1 lb / 450 grams stewing steak, 8 ounces / 225 grams ox kidney
- Mix the flour and salt together.2 tablespoons flour, 1 teaspoon salt
- Peel the vegetables and cut them into small cubes. Half an inch is fine – you don’t want huge pieces of vegetables in your pie, smaller pieces are best.2 medium onions, 3 medium potatoes, 1 large carrot
- Shred the cabbage finely – I normally cut it into one-quarter-inch wide slices.¼ to ½ small white cabbage
- Chop the tomatoes. There is no need to peel them.2 medium tomatoes
- If you are using a stock cube, dissolve it in one cup of boiling water, then mix in the Worcestershire sauce and the tomato puree.1 cup beef stock, 2 tablespoons tomato puree (or tomato paste), 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Steak and kidney pie filling
- Pat the beef with a paper towel to remove any moisture and then coat the meat with the flour and salt.
- Heat the oil and fry the steak over a medium heat, stirring continuously, until it is nicely browned. Don’t overcrowd the pan as this will lower the temperature and cause the meat to draw water and boil, rather than fry.Transfer the browned meat to the pressure cooker2 tablespoons olive oil
- Fry the onions gently in the same pan (you may need an extra splash of oil) until they start to soften then add them to the meat in the pressure cooker.
- Add the chopped kidneys, tomatoes and shredded cabbage to the pressure cooker and pour over the prepared stock. Stir to combine.
- Select the stew function on the pressure cooker (this is the highest setting on my model) and cook for 20 minutes.Allow the pressure to release.
- Now stir in the remaining vegetables (carrots and potatoes) and cook on ‘Meat’ function (second highest setting) for 15 minutes.Allow the pressure to release.
- Stir the filling and check the consistency of the gravy. It should have thickened sufficiently from the flour that the meat was browned in.If the gravy is too thin, thicken it by stirring in the cornflour and water paste (use the ‘browning’ function to keep the pressure cooker hot) until the gravy has thickened to your liking.1 tablespoon cornflour (mixed with a little cold water to form a thin paste)
- Taste for seasoning and add black pepper and more salt if necessary.Ground black pepper
Assemble and bake
- Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F.
- Tip the filling into a baking dish and allow it to cool.If you put the pastry on while the filling is still hot, the pastry will go soggy and not rise properly.
- Cut a piece of pastry from the roll (I needed half of a roll) and lay it over the dish.½ roll puff pastry
- Use your fingers to crimp the edges of the pastry to seal it against the edges of the dish. Prick the pastry with a fork to allow the steam to escape as the pie cooks in the oven.
- Brush the top of the pastry with a little lightly beaten egg to encourage the pastry to brown.I like to place the pie dish onto a baking sheet to catch any drops of gravy that may bubble out while it is cooking.1 beaten egg
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown and well risen.
- Remove from the oven and serve hot with extra vegetables if desired.
I add the cabbage to the meat right at the beginning of the cooking process so that it breaks down really well and forms a delicious gravy. You will probably find that the cabbage almost disappears.
I have used an electric pressure cooker (or instant pot) for this recipe. You can use a traditional pressure cooker, but may need to adjust the cooking times. The recipe calls for the pressure cooker to be opened halfway through so that you can add the vegetables. If the meat seems to be too tough after the first 15 minutes, give it another few minutes until it is tender, but remember the second cooking time will continue to tenderise the meat.
You can also cook this in a saucepan on the stove – just adjust the cooking times accordingly. The meat will take about 40 minutes to tenderise, and you will then have to add the potatoes and carrots and simmer for another 20 minutes until they are soft.
Cabbage contains a lot of water so you may find that the gravy is too runny to add to the pie. Just add the cornflour and water gradually (you may not need all of it) and allow to boil for a minute or two until the gravy has thickened.
If there is too much gravy then keep some of it back when you add the meat to the pie dish. You can always freeze any extra gravy and use it over your next roast.
Not all ovens are created equal, so keep your eye on the pie when it is baking. Mine worked perfectly at 30 minutes, but you may need a little less or a little more time. It is done when the pastry is puffed and golden.
Nutrition has been calculated based on 4 servings and is per serving.
When you arrive at a bakery, you don’t usually see bread up-front, but the tasty pastries. But, when you bit into one, they’re often a bit disappointing and you often think you can do better, but feels like a lot of work. Our classic Cornish pasty recipe isn’t just easy to make, but incredibly tasty and you can enjoy it with some sides or as a snack. This pastry originates from the coast of the UK and is a true favourite alongside the sausage roll.
The pasty is known for being a simple shell-shaped pastry with beef and potatoes.
Make your own Cornish pasty
You can brown the onions, garlic and beef in a pan before baking if you’re unsure about adding it raw into the pastry shell. You can use the traditional shortcrust pastry or puff pastry you bought at the shops. Remember to cut a small steam vent or two in the top of the pastry before baking so that they don’t explode. Serve your Cornish pasty with a green salad or cabbage and cauliflower.
Do you like a golden pastry with meat and potatoes? Look no further than this traditional Cornish pasty recipe to enjoy as a whole meal or snack.
Cornish pasty recipe
Recipe by Gary Dunn
Course: Main, SnackCuisine: United Kingdom
- Cut the meat and potatoes into small squares and mix them with the salt, pepper and chopped onion and garlic.
- Put a tablespoon of the mixture in each. Brush the edges with water, fold over and seal well.
- Make a small hole in the top of the pastry, brush with a little egg, and bake gently for 40 minutes.
- Serve with green salad.
Notes
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Original Pasties Recipe for Elegant Entertaining
Think meat and potatoes wrapped in a flaky crust, beef pasties recipe are among the best meat and potatoes recipes. Most original pasties recipes have that in common, but nearly all have some variance of meat mixed with root vegetables, and all are baked in a piecrust-like dough that contributes to a pasties mouth-watering flavor.
I’m a little bit pastry obsessed–whether it be making a homemade pizza dough, calzone or cream cheese danish. So whipping up a pastie recipe is right up my alley.
This beef pasties recipe is so good!
Paired up with a bottle of Gloria Ferrer Pinot Noir and you have the table set for a night of elegant entertaining. This Pinot Noir pairs great alongside many dishes like duck breast, grilled lamb and roasted quail, and also compliments a simpler dish like this Irish meat pie recipe for beef pasties by adding a level of flavor to an already endearing dish.
Gloria Ferrer Wines
Gloria Ferrer Pinot Noir is earthy and brambly, emitting aromas of black cherry, cedar, and spice with a smooth mouthfeel and long finish. And considering that Gloria Ferrer wines have earned over 400 gold medals and 50 90+ scores in the last 5 years, that long finish is worth it’s weight in gold.
Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards was the first sparkling wine house in Sonoma Carneros and is owned and founded by the Ferrer family of Spain. It is actually named for José Ferrer’s wife, Gloria, which is beautiful piece of history. Gloria Ferrer produce estate grown still and sparkling wines tat rival some of the world’s finest.
Recipe Meat for Potato and Pie
Meat and potatoes together are a classic food combination. It’s even come so far as being referred to as a type of food. While its’ not a food group in it’s own right, I’d wager that there are those who would argue that fact.
And wine. Give me a nice smooth wine with dinner any day of the week. Just a glass to enjoy my meal with–that is all. There is just something that makes nearly every meal taste better with a nice glass of wine. Like our meat hand pie recipes, which is another way to describe beef and vegetable pasties, because if you wanted to, picking this meat and potato stuff pastry is something that works quite well when you’re grabbing leftovers on the go.
Recipe for Meat and Potato Pie (aka pasty)
This recipe is really easy to prepare: ground beef, potato, carrots, onion and garlic. Toss in some dried oregano and pepper and the filling is ready. You’ll want to prepare the dough about an hour before you’re planning to bake the pasties, because rolling out chilled dough works best.
Easy Dinner Ideas Done Right
How to make pie crust dough is easier than you might think. The simple rule when it comes to making pie crust is to chill the dough for an hour prior to rolling it out. You simply can’t do anything functional with room temperature dough, so rather than waste time trying, make sure to factor in time for your dough to chill.
Main Course, Main dishes
- plus extra for rolling dough
- ice cold water
- large russet potato
- medium yellow onion
- whipped for egg wash
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Mix together flour and shortening in a mixer or food processor. Drizzle in water slowly and dough will start to bind together. Once dough has formed a ball-like consistency, remove from mixer or food processor. Place dough in refrigerator and chill for one hour before rolling out dough.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine beef, carrots, potato, onions, garlic and seasonings.
- Separate dough into 6 even pieces and form into balls. Roll out each piece of dough onto lightly floured surface. Keep others cold before rolling out each into an 8-inch circle. Divide filling evenly between the 6 pastries. Fold dough over into a half-moon shape and crimp edges of dough with fork or fingers. Cut a few small slits into each pastry to allow steaming while in the oven. Brush with egg wash and bake at 350 for an hour and fifteen minutes.
beef pasties, how to make beef pasties
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I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.