Author Notes
Last year I was in the mood for a real St. Patrick's celebration -- one with frothy Guinness pints and a plate full of bubbly, slow-cooked savory pie. After a few cookbook searches I came upon one by Jamie Oliver that promises "damn fine comfort food for a cold evening." He encourages using store-bought puff pastry dough and focusing your energy on developing the flavors that are in the pie -- enough said. Armed with this simplified approach and a starting point for a recipe, I channeled my inner Irish-woman {I did go to Notre Dame, after all} and came up with this rich, soul-warming pie plate of goodness. —cdilaura
Ingredients
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1
large vidalia or sweet onion, diced
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2
cloves garlic, finely chopped
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2
medium carrots, chopped
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2
celery stalks, chopped
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1/2
fennel bulb, chopped
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6
cremini mushrooms, quartered
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2 tablespoons
butter
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2 pounds
stewing beef, cut into cubes
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2 sprigs
fresh thyme, leaves removed
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2 sprigs
fresh rosemary, leaves removed and chopped
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salt and pepper
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1 pint
Guinness
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2 tablespoons
flour
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1 cup
Gouda or other favorite melting cheese, shredded
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1 pound
store-bought Dufour puff pastry dough
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1
egg, beaten
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1/2 cup
frozen or fresh peas
Directions
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large dutch oven on the stove, heat olive oil on low heat. Add the onions until they become translucent and lightly caramelized.
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Turn the heat to high and add the rest of the vegetables (except peas) with the butter. Cook for two minutes until fragrant, then add the beef, herbs, salt and pepper. Sear beef for 3-4 minutes, then pour in the Guinness, flour and add just enough water to cover. Bring to a simmer, cover the pan with a lid and place in the preheated over for 1.5 hours.
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Give the stew a stir and let cook for another hour, until tender and thick. If stew is still liquidy after an hour, continue cooking until reduced.
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Remove from heat, stir in half the cheese, taste and season as needed. Let cool slightly.
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Cut 1/3 of the pastry from the block, leaving a larger piece with the remaining 2/3. With a floured surface, roll both pieces out evenly using a floured rolling pin to the thickness of a silver dollar.
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Butter a pie dish, then line with the larger sheet, leaving the edges hanging over the side. Pour the stew into your lined dish, add the peas, then sprinkle over the remaining cheese. Brush the edges of the pastry with a little beaten egg.
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Cut the other rolled piece of pastry to fit the top of the pie dish and crisscross lightly with a sharp knife, being careful not to cut all the way through. Place it over the top of the pie and fold the overhanging pastry onto the pastry top, rolling to make the edges.
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Brush the top with beaten egg, then bake the pie on the lowest oven rack for 45 minutes, until pastry is cooked and golden.
Some people were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, mine was wooden. With an Italian heritage on one side and a Lebanese heritage on the other, good food was never hard to find. I grew up with Sunday dinners at Grandma’s, big pots of sauce simmering away on the stove all day and hand cut pasta drying on the rack in the basement. The perfume of lemon, garlic, garden grown herbs and other fresh ingredients always scented our family kitchens. So it is no surprise that my love for fresh, hand-prepared food is something I now love to share with new and old friends. Because of that, I put on my apron, sharpened my knives and started a blog and NYC supper club called 8.ate@eight to continue spreading the good food love.
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