Gizzi Erskine's meat pot pies recipe

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Gizzi Erskine's meat pot pies from Cook Yourself Thin, use low-fat pastry with 100g less fat than normal pastry

Serves4
SkillMedium
Preparation Time45 mins
Cooking Time2 hours 30 mins
Total Time3 hours 15 mins
Cost RangeSplashing
Nutrition Per PortionRDA
Calories639 Kcal32%
Fat24.2 g35%

These beef pies take a while to make, but are worth the effort. Gizzi says: 'This is a low-fat pastry with 100g less fat than normal pastry. I'm using low-fat beef too and ditching the mash.'

Ingredients

For the pastry:

  • 225g plain flour
  • 85g vegetable suet
  • 1tbsp olive oil
  • 100ml water
  • ½tsp salt

For the filling:

  • 400g beef shin, cut into bite sized cubes
  • Freshly ground salt and pepper
  • 1tbsp olive oil
  • 3tbsp plain flour
  • 1tbsp tomato purée
  • 200ml good ale, (light or dark are both fine)
  • 300ml red wine
  • 400ml beef stock
  • 10 shallots, peeled
  • A few sprigs of rosemary
  • 1 cinnamon sticks
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled
  • A few sprigs of thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 - 2 star anise
  • 2 cloves
  • 1 free-range egg yolk, to glaze

WEIGHT CONVERTER

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Method

  1. To make the pastry: mix together the flour and suet, then separately mix together the water and oil. With a fork mix the wet ingredients into the dried until it forms a ball of pastry. Wrap it in cling film then leave it to rest in the fridge for 15 mins.
  2. Season the beef with salt and pepper.
  3. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the beef until browned. It’s important to get a good rich colour on the meat as this will be where the stew gets it's colour and flavour. You will need to do this in batches to get the best colour. With a slotted spoon remove the meat and set aside while you get on with the rest.  
  4. Throw the shallots and garlic cloves into the pan and fry them for a couple of mins, scrapping all the meaty residue from the bottom of the pan, until they start to colour. Add the flour and tomato purée and cook for 1 min, stirring well. Then pour the ale and wine in slowly. Put the meat back into the sauce, along with the herbs and spices then, season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 1½ hrs or until it has thickened. You really need to leave the filling to cool now and remove the bay leaves and cinnamon sticks before filling the pie.
  5. Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
  6. Pour the beef filling into individual pie dishes then roll out the pastry. Cut out discs of pastry that are about 1cm in diameter bigger than the pie dishes.
  7. Wipe the edge of the pies with beaten egg then cover the pie, pressing down firmly. Brush the top with the egg. You can use the excess pastry to make some pretty shapes for the top. Pierce the of each pie top twice.
  8. Transfer to a baking tray and place in the oven. Bake for 30 mins and serve immediately. With steamed veg.
Top Tip for making Gizzi Erskine's meat pot pies

To save time you can use ready-made shortcrust pastry, but it won't be as low fat as making your own.

Gizzi Erskine
Celebrity chef

Gizzi Erskine is the phenomenal chef behind many of the nation’s much-loved cookery programmes such as Cook Yourself Thin, Cookery School, The Wine Show and Cooks to Market. She has also appeared as a chef on daytime television shows, such as Good Morning Britain. Born as Griselda Erskine in Dumfries, Scotland in 1979, Gizzi moved to London with her parents as a child. She graduated top of her year from the prestigious Leith’s School of Food and Wine before going on to launch her career as a chef. Since 2010, Gizzi has released eight cookery books focused on foolproof meals and a love of eating.