Beef and mushroom pie with puff pastry – an easy beef pot pie.
Beef and mushroom pie with puff pastry – a genuinely easy pot pie with a wonderful filling of minced beef, mushrooms, vegetables and a rich sauce, topped with crisp, golden puff pastry. This is comfort food at its very best, and it is one of those dishes that is both easy to make and tastes fantastic.
The filling is inspired by a classic cottage pie, but instead of mashed potato I top my pie with puff pastry, which turns beautifully crisp and golden in the oven. I have also added mushrooms, which bring depth and plenty of flavour to the juicy beef filling.
I start by frying the minced beef with the mushrooms, onion, garlic and carrots. Then I add dried herbs, tomato purée and Worcestershire sauce, which give the filling a lovely savoury, well-rounded flavour. A little plain flour and stock bring it all together into a rich sauce, and finally I stir in the peas.
Once the filling is ready, I arrange squares of puff pastry over the top, brush them with beaten egg and bake the pie in the oven until the pastry is crisp, puffed and golden. The combination of the hot, juicy meat filling and the crisp pastry is simply irresistible.
One of the best things about this pie is that you can make the whole thing in a single pan. If you use a frying pan that can go in the oven, you can both cook the filling and bake the pie directly in it. That makes it even easier, and you save on the washing-up too.
I served my pie quite simply, with a few fresh chives on top, a crisp green salad and a good dressing on the side. It really doesn’t need more than that, as the pie has plenty of flavour of its own and is pleasantly filling.
Can the pie be made in advance?
Yes, and that is actually one of the things I can really recommend about this recipe. I made the pie earlier in the day and simply reheated it in the evening. I covered it with foil so it could heat through properly, then removed the foil for the last 15 minutes or so, so the pastry could crisp up again nicely. It worked so well.
An easy, satisfying beef and mushroom pie with puff pastry, perfect both for weeknight dinners and for the days when you want the food ready well ahead of time. Plenty of flavour, crisp pastry and a delicious sauce – it is a dish I look forward to making again and again.
Beef and Mushroom Pie with Puff Pastry
Ingredients
- 500 g minced beef
- 200 g chestnut mushrooms, finely diced
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 150 g carrots, finely diced
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 400-500 ml beef stock
- 100 g peas
- Red wine vinegar, optional
- Oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the topping and to serve
- 1 roll ready-rolled puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten – for brushing
- Chopped chives, to serve
- A fresh salad and dressing, optional
Method
- Heat a little oil in a frying pan and brown the mince well. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Push the meat to one side, add the mushrooms and fry them hard over a high heat until they have released their liquid.
- Add the onion, garlic and carrots and fry for a further 5 minutes or so.
- Sprinkle over the herbs along with the Worcestershire sauce and tomato purée and heat through for a couple of minutes.
- Stir in the flour, then pour over the stock and let the sauce simmer gently for 5 minutes or so. Season to taste with salt, freshly ground black pepper and a little red wine vinegar, if you like, then fold in the peas.
- Meanwhile, cut the puff pastry into small squares, hearts, strips or whatever shape you prefer.
- Pour the filling into a pie dish, or leave it in the pan – if the pan is ovenproof.
- Arrange the pastry pieces over the top of the filling so they overlap – and brush with the beaten egg.
- Bake the pie in a preheated conventional oven (top and bottom heat) at 200°C for about 20-25 minutes.
- Let the pie rest for 10 minutes or so before serving, ideally with a fresh green salad and a good dressing.
Nutrition
Premium
