Bill Granger's favourite pie is a classic - beef pot pie made with puff pastry.
Ingredients:
1 kg chuck or blade steaks, cubed
3 tbsp plain flour
2 tsp paprika
400 g canned chopped tomatoes
1 large onion, finely sliced
300 g carrots, peeled and chopped
3 large cloves garlic, sliced
3 good quality anchovy fillets, in oil, finely chopped
4 sage leaves, finely chopped
170 ml red wine
1 large sheet ready-made butter puff pastry
1 egg yolk
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas 4. Cut the beef into 4cm chunks. Put the flour and paprika in a bowl with 1 teaspoon sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper and stir to combine. Add the beef and toss until coated.
2. Transfer the meat to a casserole dish. Add the tomatoes, onion, carrots, garlic, anchovies, sage and red wine and stir to mix. Cover and cook in the oven for 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened slightly and the beef and carrots are tender.
3. Spoon the beef filling into a 2 litre pie dish and put to one side. Flour your work surface and roll the pastry out so that it is just wider than the pie dish, then cover the pie with the pastry lid. Trim away the excess pastry with a sharp knife then make a slit in the top. (You can stop and refrigerate the pie at this stage if preparing ahead.)
4. When ready to cook, brush the pastry with beaten egg yolk and bake the pie for 35-40 minutes at 180C/160C fan/Gas 4 until the crust is lightly golden.