Steak & Kidney Pie Recipe by Gill Meller

There are few things more satisfying and crowd-pleasing than bringing a dish of golden-crusted goodness to the table. And it's not hard, just a matter of making a fine filling and good pastry.

Steak and Kidney pie is a classic for good reason, there's an undeniable nostalgia about it, perhaps because eating offal has somewhat fallen out of fashion - although we're always proud to say, not with our Pipers Farm customers, you lovely lot cannot get enough of our grass fed offal. But in the main, many people are unable to see the virtues of organ meat, which is not only a shame nutritionally speaking, but it also means they are missing out on delicious dishes such as this.

Serve with buttery mash and some wilted greens such kale, and you have a proper feast on your hands.

Ingredients

For the Filling
1kg

Grass Fed braising beef
250g

Grass Fed ox kidney
1 tablespoon

Grass Fed beef dripping
1 knob

Grass Fed butter
2

Onions, peeled and finely sliced
2

Cloves of garlic
50g

Stoneground unbleached white flour
300ml

Ale
1 tablespoon

Worcestershire Sauce
1 tablespoon

English mustard
4

Fresh bay leaves
2 sprigs

Thyme
1 litre

Pure Grass Fed beef stock
For the Pastry
175g

Grass Fed butter, chilled and cut into small cubes 
350g

Stoneground unbleached white flour
2-3 tablespoons

Iced water
A pinch

Pure sea salt

BUY AVAILABLE INGREDIENTS

Method

To make the pastry
Combine the butter, flour and salt, then add just enough water to bring it together into a dough.
Form into a rectangular shape with your hands and on a well-floured surface, roll out in one direction, away from you, so you have a rectangle about one centimetre thick. Fold the two short ends into the middle so they overlap. Give the pastry a quarter turn, and repeat the rolling-and-folding process five more times.
Wrap the pastry in clingfilm, then rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour.
To make the filling
Heat the oven to 180C/Gas mark 6.
Season the beef and kidney pieces then toss them in the flour, shaking off any excess.
Set a large heavy based pan over a low/medium heat. Add half the dripping and once hot add the steak and kidney pieces. Brown well on all sides then lift it out to a plate and set to once side. You’ll need to do this in batches.
Add the remaining dripping to the pan followed by the sliced onions and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 10 – 12 minutes or until soft and fragrant. Return the meat to the pan, along with the thyme and bay leaves. Pour in the ale and the stock and bring to a simmer. Add the Worcester sauce and mustard and stir everything well.
Cover (with the lid ajar) and place in the preheated oven for 1 ½ - 2 hours hours or until the meat is tender and the sauce thickened. If it looks a little dry at any point add a splash of water to loosen it up again. Let the pie filling cool once it’s ready.
To make the pie
Cut the pastry into two pieces of two-thirds and one-third. Roll out the larger piece and line a lightly greased pie dish (about 1.2 litres). Don’t worry if you have some overhang, this gets trimmed off.
Spoon in the steak and kidney pie filling, but remove the bay leaves and herb stalks.
Roll out the smaller piece of pastry to form a lid.
Brush the edges of the pastry base with some egg wash, lay on the lid and crimp together the edges. Trim away any excess pastry. Brush with more egg, and cut a vent in the centre of the pie.
Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until golden brown.
Leave to cool for 15 minutes, then serve with mash, greens and English mustard.