Beef & Pickled Walnut Pie with a Cheesy Flaky Pastry Crust

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 800 g diced beef
• 1 onion
• 1 tbsp plain flour (or cornflour)
• 300 g mushrooms
• 6 Opies Pickled Walnuts
• 200 ml ruby port
• 1 beef stock cube
• Water (enough to cover the other ingredients)
• Salt (to taste)
• 50 g butter (frozen)
• 50 g cheese (I recommend either cheddar, comté or manchego)
• 75 g plain flour
• 40 ml cold water

Instructions

1. 1

   Dice the onion (one onion), slice the mushrooms (300g) and slice four of the pickled walnuts.

2. 2

   Add half the olive oil (½ tbsp) to a large saucepan. Heat and then add the diced beef (800g). Cook until the beef has browned, stirring regularly to ensure it cooks evenly. Once the beef has browned, remove it from the pan and set aside.

3. 3

   Add the remaining olive oil (½ tbsp) to the pan. Heat and then add the chopped onion. Reduce the heat to low and cook the onion for 4-5 minutes until it starts to soften and brown, stirring regularly.

4. 4

   Return the beef to the pan. Add the flour (1 tbsp) and stir to coat the beef in the flour. Add the chopped mushrooms, pickled walnuts, ruby port (200ml) and stock cube (crumbled). Top up the pan with water until the level of the water just reaches the top of the other ingredients. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 1½ hours, stirring occasionally.

5. 5

   --- Meanwhile, make the pastry ---

6. 6

   Finely grate the butter (50g) and cheese (50g). Put the butter, cheese and plain flour (75g) into a bowl. Cut through the ingredients with a dinner knife, until the cheese and butter are coated in the flour.

7. 7

   Gradually add the cold water (40ml), ½ tbsp at a time. Continue to cut through the mixture to combine the water with the other ingredients. Once all of the water has been added, use your hands to bring the pastry together into a ball. If you have any stray flour, add a little more water to help bring it together. Once your pastry is in a ball, chill.

8. 8

   --- Now back to the pie filling ---

9. 9

   Once your pie filling has been simmering for 1½ hours, remove the lid and simmer for a further 30 minutes until the beef is tender and the sauce has thickened. If you find that the sauce is a little thin then simmer for longer until you have a thick sauce.

10. 10

    Chop the remaining two pickled walnuts into matchsticks. Turn the heat off the pan, add the chopped walnuts and stir.

11. 11

    Pre-heat your oven to 200°C/180°C fan.

12. 12

    Decant the pie filling into a large pie dish or four small ones. Roll out the pastry. Cut it to slightly larger than your pie dish(es). Put on top of the pie, press down lightly at the edges and then trim any excess. Use a sharp knife to cut a few small slits in the pastry.

13. 13

    Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the pastry is golden.