Steak and Guinness pie recipe

As featured in Rick Stein’s Food Stories, inspired by his time in Belfast, this is Rick’s steak and Guinness pie. A rich, comforting filling topped with buttery shortcrust pasty. Perfect for a cosy supper at home accompanied by a few simple boiled potatoes and some greens. Charlie Stein says “A pint of the black stuff wouldn’t go amiss either.”

Ingredients for Rick’s steak and Guinness pie recipe

SERVES 4-6

• 60g lard
• 1 kg aged chuck steak, cut into 3cm cubes
• 20g plain flour
• 2 onions, sliced
• 2 sticks celery, sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 200g chestnut mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 500ml Guinness
• 200ml beef stock
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1-2 tsp sugar
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp black pepper, crushed

For the shortcrust pastry

• 200g plain flour, plus extra for rolling out
• ½ tsp salt
• 50g very cold butter, cubed
• 50g very cold lard, cubed
• 2 tbsp very cold water

How to make Rick’s steak and Guinness pie recipe

1. Toss the cubed steak in the flour. Heat half the lard in a casserole pan when hot add the beef and brown all over. Then add the onions, celery, carrots and tomato puree and gently fry until soft and golden.
   
2. Add the Guinness, stock, mushrooms, sugar, bay leaves and sprigs of thyme and season with salt and pepper. Bring up to the boil and turn down until just simmering then cover with a lid and cook on the hob for 1 ½ – 2 hours, until the beef is tender. If the filling is too runny, lift out the meat and veg with a slotted spoon to your pie dish and boil the liquid hard to reduce. Then combine with the meat and allow to cool while you make the pastry.
   
3. Preheat the oven to 190c/170c fan. 
   
4. Sift the flour and salt into a food processor or a mixing bowl. Add the chilled butter and lard and pulse or work together with your fingers until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Add enough water to bring it together into a dough, turn onto a lightly floured surface and form into a disk about 4-5cm thick, cover a chill until ready to use.
   
5. Transfer to a floured board and roll out to fit the size of your chosen pie dish. transfer the cooled filling to the pie dish, brush the edges of the dish with some beaten egg to stick the pastry lid down, lay the pastry over the filling and cut a steam vent, brush with beaten egg and bake at 190c/170c fan for 30-35 minutes until golden.

Happy cooking