RecipeTin Eats’ slow-cooked beef pithivier

Name: RecipeTin Eats’ slow-cooked beef pithivier
Cook time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 2 pies (to serve 4 total)
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 750g chuck steak, cut into 5cm pieces; ½ tsp cooking salt; ½ tsp black pepper; 1½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil

RecipeTin Eats

June 5, 2023

The French version of a meat pie.Rob Palmer

Time:2 hours +Makes:2 pies (to serve 4 total)

A dome of golden pastry hides a rich shredded beef filling with a deeply savoury gravy.

Ingredients

750g chuck steak, cut into 5cm pieces
½ tsp cooking salt
½ tsp black pepper
1½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Rich gravy

1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
100g streaky bacon, cut into 1.5cm x 1.25cm pieces
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 6mm dice
1 celery stalk, cut into 6mm dice
1½ tbsp plain flour
1 cup dark beer (stout, Guinness) – or dry red wine
1½ cup low-salt chicken stock
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 bay leaf
2 thyme sprigs
¼ tsp black pepper

Method

Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional).
Step 2
Pat the beef dry with paper towels, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large heavy-based Dutch oven over high heat. Add half the beef and sear until brown on all sides, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate using a slotted spoon then brown the remaining beef.
Step 3
Lower the heat to medium and cook the onion and garlic for 3 minutes until soft, adding a bit more oil, if needed. Add the bacon and cook until golden. Stir in carrot and celery and cook for 2 minutes. Add the flour and stir for 1 minute. Add the beer, stock, tomato paste, herbs and pepper, stirring well to dissolve the flour into the liquid.
Step 4
Return the beef to the pot and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot with a lid and place in the oven for 2 hours. The beef should be tender enough to shred without effort, and the sauce should be like a thin gravy, around 1 cup.
Step 5
Remove the pot from the oven. Set a colander over a large bowl and strain. Pour the sauce into a smaller bowl and set aside to cool, then refrigerate until required for serving. Put the beef in the large bowl, remove and discard the bay leaves and thyme stems, and shred the beef using 2 forks. Set aside to cool.
Step 6
Proceed to pithivier construction steps.

Notes:

If you have less sauce than specified, the flavour will be too intense. Dilute with water.
If you have too much sauce after straining out the filling, reduce it on the stove to the target quantity (otherwise the flavour may be too diluted).
Freeze the filling in the bowl (see pithivier building). Once frozen, release the filling from the bowl and return it to the freezer, where it will keep for up to 3 months.