Steak and mushroom pie
Slow-simmered beef and mushrooms in a rich, dark gravy under a golden, puffed pastry lid, the British pub pie made at home.
- 190 min total
- 45 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 6
- About $4.26 a serving
- 520 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 2 lb stew beef
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 8 oz baby bella mushrooms, quartered
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 puff pastry sheet, thawed in the fridge
- 1 large egg, beaten
From your pantry
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
Each serving has about 520 calories, 37 g protein, 24 g carbs and 31 g fat, and costs about $4.26 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No stew beef? Chuck roast works.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No baby bella mushrooms? White mushrooms work.
- No beef broth? Bone broth works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the beef with the flour, salt and pepper until coated.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Heat the oil in a over medium-high. the beef in batches, 4 to 5 minutes each, until deep brown on a couple of sides, and move it to a plate.
Dutch oven. A Dutch oven is a heavy pot, usually enameled cast iron, with a tight-fitting lid. It holds heat evenly, so it’s great for soups, stews and anything that simmers a long time.
How you’ll know: Any large, heavy pot with a lid does the same job if you don’t have one.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 9 min
Dolly’s tip: Crowded beef steams gray. Three batches take longer but give you a much deeper gravy.Turn the heat to medium, add the butter, onion and mushrooms, and cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring, until . Stir in the garlic and tomato paste for 1 minute.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium heatTimer: 7 min
Pour in the broth and Worcestershire, , and add the thyme, bay leaves and beef. .
Scrape up the browned bits. It means loosening the brown bits stuck to the pan with a wooden spoon, usually right after adding liquid. Those bits are concentrated flavor, and they melt into the sauce.
How you’ll know: The bottom of the pan looks clean again, and the liquid turns darker and richer.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Cover, turn the heat to low, and 1½ to 2 hours, until the beef is and the gravy is thick.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Fork-tender. Fork-tender means cooked until a fork slides in with almost no push. It’s how you know potatoes, carrots or slow-cooked meat are soft all the way through.
How you’ll know: The fork slides in and out easily, and meat pulls apart with very little effort.
Low heatTimer: 100 min
Dolly’s tip: If the gravy is still thin at the end, simmer it uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes.Food safety: Steak, pork chops and other whole cuts are safe at 145°F in the middle, then let them rest for 3 minutes before cutting.
the oven to 400°F. Fish out the bay leaves, pour the filling into a 9-inch deep pie dish, and let it cool 10 minutes.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Dolly’s tip: Steaming-hot filling melts the pastry butter before it can puff. A short cool-down gives you flaky layers.Lay the pastry over the dish, trim the overhang to 1 inch, press it onto the rim, cut 3 slits in the top, and brush it with the beaten egg.
Set the dish on a baking sheet and 25 to 30 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and deep . Let it rest 10 minutes before serving.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 27 min 30 sec
Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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