DIVINE STEAK AND KIDNEY PIE
- 300 g puff pastry
- 1 egg and 1 extra egg yolk, beaten together
- Filling:
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 700 g steak, diced (good stewing beef will be ok)
- 200 g lamb kidney, diced
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 30 g plain flour
- 850 ml beef stock
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- a dash of Worcestershire sauce
Preheat the oven to 220 ºC. Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan, and brown the steak all over. (You may need to do this in batches.) Set aside, then brown the kidneys on both sides in the same pan. Add the onions and cook for 3-4 minutes. Return the steak to the pan, sprinkle flour over and coat the meat and onions Add the stock to the pan, stir well and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 1½ hours without a lid.
If the liquid evaporates too much, add more stock. Remove from the heat. Add salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce and allow to cool completely.
Place the cooked meat mixture into a pie dish. (I used individual pastry dishes). Roll out the pastry to 5 mm/¼ inch thick and 5 cm/2 inch larger than the dish you are using.
( I used the lid of my pastry dish to cut my pastry lid according to size).
Using a rolling pin, lift the pastry and place it over the top of the pie dish. Trim and crimp the edges with your fingers and thumb.
Lower your oven temperature to 180ºC.
Brush the surface of your pie/pies with the beaten egg mixture and bake for 30-40 minutes until golden-brown and puffed.
Serve with creamy mash and steamed vegetables to soak up the gravy.
Recipe: Anthony Worrall Thompson
Adapted by Amanda Conradie
Photo: Elize de Kock
