Beef and Vegetable Pie

• Preheat the oven to 150°C.

Prep the Beef

• Put the flour, salt, cumin, paprika and pepper into a glad bag along with the beef and shake to coat all the beef pieces. Set aside.

Filling

• Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large heavy based Le Creuset pan Dutch Oven or similar oven-proof pot, over medium heat. Add the diced onion, carrots, and 1/2 tsp sea salt and cook for 5 minutes to soften onions slightly. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more. Remove the vegetables from the pot and set aside.
• In the same pot, add another tablespoon of olive oil over medium/high heat, and add 1/2 the beef. Spread out and brown the beef to seal them. Stir so they don't burn. This will only take a few minutes. Remove to a dish and repeat with the rest of the beef adding more oil if required. Once the beef is browned, add all the beef back to the pan, along with the onion mixture, flour, beef stock, beef cube, worcestershire sauce, tomato sauce, bay leaves and thyme. Stir well to lift any bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pot. Bring everything to the boil,and once boiling, cover with a lid and place the pot in the preheated oven to cook for 45 minutes.
• After 45 minutes, remove from the oven and add the potato cubes. Stir to combine and to cover the potatoes. Cover and return to the oven for another hour. Check again after 1 hour and stir mixture. It will probably need another 30 minutes to 1 hour for the beef to be tender and potatoes to soften, so put back in the oven and check again in 30 minutes. Once ready, remove from the oven, discard the bay leaves and thyme sprig, and set aside to cool in the pot. Season to taste if required. Cool to room temperature, and ideally refrigerate overnight before using as a filling for the pies.

To Assemble Pie/s:

• Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease the pie dish or dishes. Make sure the puff pastry sheets are defrosted but chilled/cold.
• For a round pie dish: Take one sheet of pastry and place flat in the bottom of the pie dish. Take another sheet of pastry and cut into 4 even strips. Take one of the strips and use it to cover one of the sides by letting it overlap the first sheet slightly, pressing down to seal the join together (see photos). Repeat with the other 3 strips and sides. The pie dish should now be completely covered with pastry and all joins pressed together to seal. Fill the pie dish generously with cold beef filling and spread mixture out. Take a third sheet of pastry and place over the top of the filling to form the top. The lid should cover the whole top and lip of the pie dish, so press pastry together and trim the sides. Use a fork or fingers to crimp the edges to seal. If the pie pastry top doesn’t quite reach all sides, then use the excess pastry on the sides to fold over/roll to enclose the filling (see photos showing both ways). Repeat with second round pie dish. If using a large rectangle dish, then follow the same principles explained here, to cover the dish with pastry, but you may have to use more pastry sheets.

  Decorate the pie however you like with excess pastry pieces. You can also leave it undecorated. Cut out a small hole in the middle of the pastry lid, or make a few slashes as this allows steam to escape when it is cooking.

  Combine the egg yolk and water together. Brush the top of the pie with the egg wash. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes, until golden on top. If the pie is browning too quickly, cover the top loosely with tin foil. Rest for 15 minutes before serving and cutting.