Beef and Mushroom Pie
Is there anything nicer than a piece of pie at the end of a busy day? I’m not sure that there is. We had some interesting ingredients and left overs sitting in the fridge come dinner time last night and this yummy pie was the resulting creation.
Ingredients.
Crust
Two cups of self-raising flour.
Half a cup of oil.
Half a cup of water, including a dash of vinegar (see tips).
A pinch of salt
Filling
One onion
Four cups of chopped mushrooms
One cup of mince
Two cups of chopped cooked corned beef
One tablespoon of crushed garlic (about three big cloves)
400-gram tin of Italian diced tomatoes (or a cup and a half).
Basil and Oregano to taste.
Crust Instructions
Place the self-raising flour into a bowl. Add the water, vinegar, salt and oil. Using the tips of your fingers, mix it just enough to create a soft dough.
This will make enough pastry to line a large pan with a lattice finish on the top.
The dough is ready to use when you want it. Line your pan while you cook the filling. No need to chill it. I am happy to report that this crust will stand rolling. Remember to put aside a little of the pastry for the lattice.
Filling Instructions
Caramelize your onion.
Add the mushrooms and cook at a low temperature with the lid on (you need the juices). When the mushrooms are becoming soft, add the mince and garlic. When the mince is beginning to look done, add the corned beef, diced tomatoes and herbs.
Remove the lid and simmer for about five minutes.
Add two tablespoons of cornstarch. Stir the cornstarch in and allow the mixture to thicken.
When the mixture is the thickness you want, add it to the pie crust.
Create the pie lattice with the left-over lump of pastry.
Put the pie into a preheated oven at 220c (428 f).
Bake for about 45 minutes or until the crust turns golden brown. I helped this along by taking the pie out after about 40 minutes and spraying it lightly with coconut oil. Then I gave it five more minutes to make it glow.
In future, I would make this pie a good two hours before I wanted it. It was really hard to plate after sitting for only 30 minutes. I think I’d rather reheat it than make the mess I did. But it was definitely delicious, and I’ll be making it again.
Tips.
You don’t have to add vinegar to the pastry if you don’t want too. But it adds a slightly flaky element to the pastry, and it honestly didn’t seem to affect the taste all that much.
Be cautious of adding salt to the filling of this pie. The corned beef is super salty and it’s easy to oversalt the filling. Obviously, if you use a less salty kind of meat, you can be a lot more free with the seasoning.
PS. It’s official, the pie is even better cold, the next day. New favourite summer meal acquired. This fact was discovered while taking another picture for this post😂.
