Beef scouse pie with vegetables
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- over 2 hours
- Serve
- Serves 8
This hearty beef scouse pie is filled with slow-cooked beef, onions and potatoes in a rich gravy, then topped with homemade lard pastry. Serve with buttered cabbage and roasted parsnips for a comforting family meal. You’ll need a large, lidded casserole dish and a suitable pie dish.
Ingredients
For the beef scouse filling
- 3 tbsp beef dripping
- 700g/1lb 9oz beef chuck steak, cut into large chunks
- 2–3 onions, peeled and sliced
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- 10g/⅓oz fresh thyme
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- 750ml/1⅓ pints beef stock
- 500g/1lb 2oz floury potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
For the lard pastry
- 200g/7oz lard, cubed
- 400g/14oz plain flour
- 150–200ml/5–7fl oz iced water, as needed
- 1 medium free-range egg, beaten, for glazing
To serve
Method
To make the beef scouse filling, season the beef with salt and pepper. Heat the beef dripping in a large casserole dish over a medium-high heat. Add the beef and fry until browned all over, then remove from the dish and set aside.
Add the onions to the same dish and cook until softened. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf and thyme.
Add the flour and stir to combine, then return the beef to the dish. Pour in the beef stock and stir well. Cover with a lid and simmer gently for 1½ hours.
Add the potatoes, cover and cook for another hour, or until the beef and potatoes are tender. If the sauce is too thin, simmer uncovered until reduced to the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper, then leave the filling to cool before assembling the pie.
To make the lard pastry, put the lard, flour and a pinch of salt in a large bowl and mix together. Add enough iced water to bring the mixture together into a dough.
Roll the dough out into a rectangle. Fold the top third down towards the centre, then fold the bottom third up over it.
Turn the pastry 90 degrees, roll it out into a rectangle again and repeat the folding process six times. Chill the pastry before rolling it out to line and top the pie.
Preheat the oven to 190C Fan.
Roll out the pastry and use it to line a pie dish. Spoon in the cold beef scouse filling, then cover with a pastry lid. Press and crimp the edges to seal.
Brush the pastry with beaten egg and bake for 30–40 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and cooked through and the filling is piping hot.
To make the parsnips, place them onto a baking tray and drizzle with the oil, place in the oven for 20–30 minutes.
For the cabbage, heat a sauté pan and add the butter, once hot and melted add the cabbage and sauté for 2–3 minutes.
Serve the pie with sautéed buttered hispi cabbage and roasted parsnips.
