Family Meat Pie

This hearty meat pie is a type of closed meat pie invented in Australia and has become a national dish. These small pies are a popular fast food at football matches. We suggest making a larger pie, big enough to serve the whole family.

Step-by-step recipe

Step 1:

Cut the beef into small pieces, add salt, pepper and grind.

Step 2:

Pour vegetable oil into a saucepan and fry the meat in batches on both sides and place in a bowl.

Step 3:

Place finely chopped bacon in the same pan, fry and transfer to the bowl with the meat.

Step 4:

Melt the butter in the same pan and fry the small mushrooms, cut into pieces.

Step 5:

Cut the onion, celery, and carrot into pieces, crush the garlic, place in a saucepan and lightly fry.

Step 6:

Add Guinness beer, beef broth, water, stir.

Step 7:

Add the meat and bacon, cover and bake in the oven for 1 hour.

Step 8:

Add the mushrooms to the pan, stir and place in the oven for another hour.

Step 9:

Remove the pan from the oven, place it on the fire and boil for 20 minutes.

Step 10:

Combine butter and flour in a bowl, stir, rubbing, and add to the pan.

Step 11:

Add salt and pepper, stir, remove from heat and leave in the refrigerator overnight.

Step 12:

Roll out a portion of shortcrust pastry and line a round baking pan with it, pressing the dough around the inside perimeter. Trim any uneven edges.

Step 13:

Make pricks in the bottom of the dough with a fork.

Step 14:

Cover the pan with two sheets of baking paper and sprinkle the filling – dry rice or beans – on top of the paper so that it fills the pan instead of filling.

Step 15:

Bake in an oven preheated to 200 degrees for 20 minutes, then cool.

Step 16:

Place the filling in a pie pan with a small mound, brush the edges of the dough with egg.

Step 17:

Cover the pie with a sheet of puff pastry, trim the edges and press them with a fork.

Step 18:

Brush the top with egg and make a small cross-shaped cut in the middle.

Step 19:

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.

Step 20:

Cut into pieces and serve.

Cooking tips

For the pie, it is better to take the softest and meatiest beef, the kind intended for steaks.

You can use any other dark stout beer or red wine instead of Guinness. Use 600 ml of wine and omit the water.

It's best to bake the main crust separately to prevent the dough from becoming soggy from the wet filling.

Don't refrigerate hot filling; let it cool to room temperature first. After chilling overnight for best flavor, let it come back to room temperature; otherwise, it will become too dense and the pie won't bake properly. Don't add hot filling to the pie, as this will prevent the flaky crust from rising.

You can make shortcrust pastry for the pie yourself or buy ready-made.