900g (2lb) stewing steak, such as chuck, cut into 2.5cm (1in) pieces
4Tbsp. plain flour
2Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
50g (2oz) button mushrooms, roughly chopped
450ml (¾pints) each ale and hot beef stock
A few thyme sprigs
2 rosemary sprigs
500g pack puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
Directions
Step 1
Toss the beef pieces in the flour. Heat oil in a large pan over a medium heat and brown the beef in batches. Remove and set aside. Add 2tbsp water to the pan and use a wooden spoon to loosen any goodness from base of pan.
Step 2
Lower the heat slightly and add the onions, garlic, mushrooms and carrots to the pan. Fry for 10min until the vegetables are beginning to soften and the edges are turning golden. Return beef to the pan and add the ale, stock and herbs. Cover and simmer gently for 1½hr until beef is tender. Remove thyme and rosemary stalks.
Step 3
Preheat oven to 200˚C (180˚C fan) mark 6. Roll out the pastry to 3mm (1/8in). Put a 275g (10oz) pie dish on top of the pastry and cut around it, leaving a 5mm (¼in) border. Repeat to make five more lids.
Step 4
Brush the edges of the pastry with the egg. Divide the stew among the six pie dishes, then top each with a pastry lid, egg-side down. Brush the top with egg and cut a 2.5cm (1in) cross in the centre to let out steam. Bake for 25-30min until the pastry is risen and golden.
Step 5
Serve with steamed and buttered tenderstem broccoli, a dollop of mustard and your favourite beer.
For a thicker sauce, spoon 4tbsp stewing liquid into a small bowl at the end of step 2. Stir in ½ tsp cornflour and mix to a paste. Add this to the stew and simmer until thickened.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
