Ingredients

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1kg chuck steak, beef cheek or short rib

500ml red wine

Sea salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

Neutral oil or beef fat

1x large white or brown onion

2x carrots

2x celery sticks, roughly chopped

1x whole bulb garlic, halved

2x tbsp tomato paste

2-3 tbsp plain flour

500ml beef stock

Fresh rosemary & thyme

2x bay leaves

200ml double cream

200g unsalted butter

2x garlic cloves

Salt

White pepper

Freshly grated nutmeg

1.5kg potatoes

French Cheese - gruyere or comte

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Method

Step 1: Marinate the beef

1. For this recipe, you want a cut of beef that is well suited to slow cooking. Something decently marbled with good fat content so that it stays tender and moist after several hours of braising. I would recommend a chuck steak for this, but things like beef cheek and short rib work beautifully too. Around 1kg is perfect.

2. Start by dicing into large chunks, then add to a bowl and cover with a nice red wine, around 500ml should do. This step is not traditional, but I wanted a richer flavour that will take this pie up a few levels. You can skip and move straight on to the sear if preferred.

3. In terms of wine, a dry French red with good acidity and moderate tannins would be perfect. Burgundy wines are ideal.

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Leave to marinate for a few hours, covered and refrigerated. Anywhere from 6-24 hours is ideal so that the beef is hydrated with wine and takes on the colour.

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Step 2: Build the braise

1. After marinating, remove the beef from the wine and drain on a paper towel, reserving the wine for later. Pat the beef dry really well, you want no visible liquid, then season with sea salt and black pepper. Properly drying the beef is important here as moisture will prevent it from developing a good crust during the sear.

2. Next, grab a large casserole dish and bring it up to medium-high. Allow the pot time to fully heat up and get to temperature, cast irons can take time. Once hot, lace with neutral oil or beef fat and then add in a few pieces of your beef and sear in batches. Once your beef is in, leave it to sear and caramelise for a couple minutes before flipping, then repeat with the remaining beef and set aside.

3. At this stage you should have lots of golden brown fond on the bottom of the pot and that’s exactly what you want! If the oil is too dark, burnt or rancid, simply toss it out and add some fresh oil before adding the veggies.

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In the same pan, add in additional neutral oil as needed, then throw in your vegetables. For the base, roughly chop 1 large white or brown onion, 2 carrots, 2 sticks of celery and one whole, halved bulb of garlic. Season and sauté for a few minutes until softened and slightly caramelised. It should take on the colour of all that fond on the bottom of the pot.

Add in 2 tbsp of tomato paste and sauté for a further minute, then add back in your beef and toss to coat. You want the tomato paste to darken slightly and lose any raw flavour before moving on.

Next, sprinkle in 2½ tablespoons of plain flour and cook off for another minute or two so that the raw flour cooks out, then pour in the reserved red wine marinade.

Bring this back up to a simmer and reduce for 5 minutes to concentrate the flavour of the wine, then add in your beef stock, just enough to cover the meat. I used around 500ml of beef demi-glace here. Video on how to make this soon!

Add in some fresh herbs at this stage - I used rosemary, thyme and bay, then lower the pot to medium-low heat and allow it to simmer lid-on for 3 hours. You want a gentle simmer during the braising stage, so check on the pot periodically to ensure things aren’t roaring hot or boiling aggressively.

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Step 3: Prepare the infused cream

1. As your beef simmers, you can prepare the infused cream for your mashed potato topping. Simply add 200ml double cream to a saucepan along with 200g of unsalted butter, fresh thyme and 2 cloves of garlic. Bring up to medium heat so that the butter melts and things start to simmer. Leave to simmer for 2-3 minutes, then kill the heat and season with salt, white pepper and some freshly grated nutmeg. Mix, strain and set aside for later.

   Step 4: Finish the filling

2. After 3 hours, remove the lid from the casserole pot and pull out the chunks of beef and any vegetables you want inside the final pie. I just took out the beef and carrots. Set the vegetables aside, then roughly chop the beef using a sharp knife.

3. Next, strain out the braising liquid into a fresh pan and bring this up to medium-high so that it can reduce and thicken. Leave this to simmer and bubble for around 20 minutes until things are rich, glossy and intensified. The finished sauce should coat the back of a spoon and taste noticeably richer than it did straight from the braise.

   Step 5: Prepare the potatoes

4. Grab your potatoes, around 1.5kg and throw them into an oven set to 180°C for about an hour. Baking them rather than boiling concentrates the flavour and prevents excess water from diluting the mash.

   Step 6: Build the filling

5. In a new pan, add in 1 tbsp unsalted butter and once melted, go in with 1 finely minced brown onion. Sauté this for a few minutes over medium-high until the edges just start to catch and turn golden, then throw in your chopped beef and mix to combine. The sauteed onions add a really nice sweetness to the filling, so don’t skip this step!

6. Add in a few ladles of your reduced braising liquid and give things a mix until evenly combined. No need to use it all. You want this mixture to be rich and meaty, not watery, so add in the reduced sauce with restraint. Reduce heat to medium, then throw in some freshly chopped parsley and your reserved carrots. Fold this together and set aside or continue reducing if needed. Set aside to cool slightly. Taste and adjust seasoning here if needed.

   Step 7: Prepare the mash

7. Add half of your infused cream to a saucepan over medium-low until warm, then grab your potatoes from the oven and remove the skins. Using a ricer, squeeze the potatoes directly into the cream and mix well until combined. Use the rest of the cream as needed until you reach the perfect fluffy consistency. Adjust seasoning at the end as desired. I sometimes add in a little Gruyère or Parmesan here too, tastes incredible.

   Step 8: Assemble and bake

8. Grab a large pie dish or baking dish and spoon in your cooled meat mixture, then spoon on your mashed potato and smooth out the surface.

9. Drag a fork lightly across the surface to create an uneven texture that’ll crisp up in the oven, then grate over some Parmigiano Reggiano using a microplane.

10. Bake in the oven at 180°C for 25-35 minutes until golden brown and bubbling all over. The edges should be visibly bubbling and the potato should have developed plenty of colour across the surface. Rest the pie for around 15 minutes before serving, this will give you a slightly cleaner plate and make serving a little easier.

11. Plate up and serve with a few spoons of your reduced braising sauce and some fresh herbs.