Mini Beef Pot Pies

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 pounds beef stew meat (or chuck roast cut into small chunks)
• salt and pepper (to taste)
• 1 medium onion (roughly chopped)
• 2 medium carrots (peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
• 4 ounce cremini mushrooms (slicked)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1/2 cup Guinness (or any dark Irish stout)
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth (low sodium)
• 1 beef bouillon cube
• 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 puff pastry sheets
• 1 egg (beaten, for egg wash)

Instructions

1. 1

   Prep the oven: Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. 2

   Sear the beef: Heat the vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season the beef generously with salt and pepper. Add the meat in batches to the Dutch oven and sear for about 5 minutes or until meat starts to brown. Transfer meat to a plate and repeat with remaining meat.

3. 3

   Saute veggies: Add the onion, carrots and mushrooms to the same pot and saute until the vegetables are softened, for 5 minutes. Stir the bottom of the pot to scrape all the brown bits.

4. 4

   Add beef back and liquids: Add the beef back to the pot. Sprinkle the flour over the meat and vegetables and cook for 1 more minute. Add the tomato paste, garlic and cook for another 30 seconds. Pour in the Guinness and cook for about 2 minutes. Pour in the beef broth, add the beef bouillon cube, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, thyme, bay leaf and stir everything together.

5. 5

   Braise in the oven: Bring to a simmer, cover and transfer to the oven. Cook for 2 to 2½ hours in the oven or until beef is tender. Remove Dutch oven from the oven and stir in the peas. Discard the bay leaf.

6. 6

   Prep the pastry: Roll out the puff pastry sheets and cut into 6-8 inch rounds, making sure each round is it’s at least ½ to 1 inch larger than the baking dishes.

7. 7

   Assemble the pot pies: Place beef mixture into each ramekin. Top each ramekin with pastry circle, pressing the edges to seal. Brush with egg wash and cut slits into the pastry.

8. 8

   Bake: Transfer the ramekins to the oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Let the pot pies cool for 10 minutes before serving.