A piece of pie

After the wedding I decided I'd like to spend more time in the kitchen preparing meals rather than eating easy fish or meat and veges day in, day out. During the week I struggle to find the time after work let alone the energy, but on the weekends when things aren't so rushed I'm going to make the effort.

So this weekend I made a Beef, mushroom and red wine pie found on Gourmet Traveller. It took a while to cook but well worth the effort, and we have plenty leftover so don't have to worry about cooking tomorrow night or the next. Yes! I did cut one corner and used puff pastry sheets. Recipe below.

Beef, mushroom and red wine pie.

• 1.7kg boneless beef shoulder, cut into 2cm cubes

• Seasoned flour - for dusting

• 30ml olive oil

• 2 onions, diced

• 2 stalks celery, diced

• 1 carrot, diced

• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped

• 600ml beef stock

• 375ml (1 1/2 cups) red wine

• 10 sprigs of thyme

• 3 fresh bay leaves

• 40gm plain flour

• 200gm pine mushrooms, coarsely torn

(I used button as I couldn't get hold of pine)

• 30ml red wine vinegar

• 375gm butter puff pastry

• 1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tbsp milk

To serve: Steamed Roman beans

Dust beef in seasoned flour, shaking off excess. Heat oil in a heavy-based casserole over medium-high heat, add beef and cook, stirring occasionally, until brown (4-5 mins). Add onion, celery, carrot and garlic and cook until vegies are tender (4-5 mins). Add stock, wine and herbs, season to taste with sea salt and black pepper, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 2 hours. Add mushrooms and cook until meat is falling apart (30 mins).

Place flour in a small bowl and add enough braising liquid (about 1/3 cup) to make a thin, smooth paste. Add to casserole, stirring until smooth and thick (4-5 mins). Season to taste, add vinegar, cool, then spoon into an 8-cup capacity pie dish, removing bay leaves.

Preheat oven to 180C. Roll pastry to 3mm thick on a floured surface. Place over filling, with edges overhanging. Press with fork tines to seal edges and trim excess with a knife. Brush with eggwash and bake until pastry is golden (about 20 minutes). Serve with beans. Serves 6