Beef and Guinness pot pie

Recipe by Gaby Holland

Serves 4

Using the shin of beef and oxtail will give you a wonderfully moist, beefy flavored stew.

Ingredients

• 600g beef shin cut into cubes 
• 500g oxtail (or an extra 200g beef shin) 
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 large onions, roughly chopped
• 2 celery stick, chopped 
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 can Guinness 
• 1 beef stock cube, mixed with 400ml boiling water
• Small bunch each thyme, bay leaf and parsley, tied together
• 200g chestnut mushrooms, halved
• 3 large carrots, chopped into chunks
• 2 parsnips, chopped into chunks 
• 1 pkt ready rolled puff pastry

Shape into small patties and oven bake on a greased  tray 

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160°C. 
2. Heat half the oil in a large casserole dish, brown the meat really well in batches, then set aside. 
3. Add the onions, celery and garlic to the pan, adding a drizzle more oil, then cook on a low heat for 5 mins until coloured.
4. Tip the meat and any juices back into the pan and give it all a good stir. Pour over the Guinness and stock. 
5. Season stew, tuck in the herbs and bring everything to a simmer. 
6. Cover with a lid and place in the oven for about 3 ½ hrs, until the meat is really tender. 
7. Let it cool slightly and skim off the fat from the stew. 
8. Using a slotted spoon, transfer oxtails to a plate, shred the meat, discarding bones. (There isn’t much meat in the oxtail but it’s packed with flavor). 
9. Add the meat back into the stew together with the rest of the vegetables. Give all a good stir. 
10. Cover with lid and cook for a further 40 to 60 mins until vegetables are tender.  
11. If the gravy is too thin thicken with a tablespoon of corn flour. (Mix it with some cold water first and stir it into the stew.
12. Leave everything to cool completely – better still, make this up to two days in advance and keep it in the fridge. Can also be frozen for up to three months and defrosted when needed.
13. Before serving heat oven to 200°C, gently unroll the pastry and cover the top of casserole dish to form a lid, pressing gently around the edges. 
14. Cut out a small hole in the centre to allow steam to escape and decorate with the extra pastry trimmings. 
15. Brush the pastry with a little beaten egg and cook for around 19 to 15 mins until pastry is golden.