Beef Pies

(All Recipes have Gluten-Free Options)

Beef, Tomato and Fennel Pie with Mustard and Gruyere Mash (Serves 4 – 6)

This dish is reminiscent of ‘Shepherds Pie’ but only better. It does require quite a lot of chopping and slow cooking, but once it’s on the stove you can leave it to itself. Believe me, it really is a special dish, perfect on a chilly night – pure comfort!…

1kg beef (chuck), cubed

10g dried porcini mushrooms

Olive oil

2 onions, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 teaspoons fennel seeds

1 fennel bulb, chopped

4 bay leaves

Bunch of thyme, leaves picked and chopped

Bunch of sage, leaves picked and chopped

300g chestnut mushrooms, quartered

2 tablespoons tomato purée

400g cherry tomatoes, halved

2 tablespoons redcurrant jelly

175ml marsala wine

175ml red wine

750ml beef stock

1kg potatoes

100g butter

25ml full fat milk

2 tablespoons mustard

200g gruyere cheese, grated

Sea salt and black pepper

  1. First of all put the porcini in a small boil, cover with boiling water and soak for 30 minutes. Drain and chop. Put to one side.
  2. Meanwhile heat some oil in large pan, add the beef in batches, sear and brown. Once browned remove from the pan and put to one side.
  3. Add the onion, garlic, fennel seeds, chopped fennel, bay leaves, sage and thyme to the pan and sauté for about 5 minutes until they are starting to caramelise. Add the mushrooms and cook for another few minutes before returning the beef to the pan. Add the tomato purée and the cherry tomatoes, mix and then add the porcini, red currant jelly, marsala wine, red wine and stock, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil then cover and simmer for 2.5 hours until the meat has broken down. Now remove the lid and boil rapidly for 10-15 minutes to reduce and thicken the sauce.
  4. Meanwhile make the mash – peel the potatoes and chop into quarters, place in a pan and cover with water. Bring to the boil then simmer for about 20 minutes until cooked through. Mash until smooth, adding the butter, milk, mustard and cheese and season generously.
  5. Spoon the beef mixture into a large pie dish, probably you will not need all of the gravy, but keep it to one side (it’s delicious!). Top the pie with the mash, spreading it out to cover the meat filling – it can look a bit messy, but no worries it cooks up beautifully!
  6.  Cook in a preheated oven, 200’c fan, for about 25 minutes until golden and bubbling. Allow to cool a little before serving, reheating any reserved gravy to pass around.