Steak and ale individual pies recipe

These steak and ale individual pies topped with buttery, golden pastry, each the right size for one perfect portion.

These miniature meaty pies are ideal for when you're cooking for guests. Making one pie per person makes it a doddle to cater to specific portions. Plus your visitors will feel like they're in a fancy gastropub when you serve up a single per for each person. We've made our own pastry to top this pie. It's quick and easy to do and does make the end result even more special. That said if you're short on time, these work really well with shop-bought shortcrust pastry too. 

Ingredients

• 1 chuck or stewing steak, approx. 150g, into 2.5cm/1inch cubes
• ½ onion, finely chopped
• ½ carrot or 1 small carrot, chopped
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tbsp flour
• 100ml dark ale
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp beef stock or ¼ of a stock cube
• 50g frozen peas

For the pastry:

• 60g flour
• 30g cold butter, grated
• 1 egg, beaten

Method

1. For the filing: fry the beef for a minute each side to brown, set aside on a plate. In the same pan, cook the onion and carrot in the butter until softened. Add the garlic clove and cook for another minute. Stir in the flour and slowly add the ale, whisking continuously until thickened. Add the Worcestershire sauce and stock along with 100ml water. Place the beef cubes back in the mixture and cover to cook over a low heat for 45 mins. Remove and allow the mixture to cool slightly.
2. For the pastry: Mix the flour and cold grated butter in a large bowl. Add half of the egg, and bring together to form a soft dough. Place, covered, in the fridge for 20 mins to rest.
3. Remove the pastry from the fridge, and roll out to the thickness of a £1 coin.
4. Once the filling has cooled slightly, spoon it into a small pie dish and top with the pastry. Crimp or fork the edges, brush with the other half of the egg and bake in the oven for 20-25 mins until golden brown and cooked through.
5. Serve warm with a green salad or creamy mashed potato and peas.

Top tip for making steak and ale individual pies

This recipe serves one (great if you want something special all to yourself). However, because each pie is it's own dish, it's really easy to simply multiply all the ingredients by how many you're catering for to cook them in numbers.

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