This weekend was the first of many expected cold weekends. Its when its not quite winter yet but its already becoming more comfortable to just stay indoors. In the spirit of upcoming winter I decided to make us Pepper-steak pies. The last time I even had a proper pie was before we left home 2 years ago. Its pretty hard to get hold of puff pastry here in Korea so frankly I didn’t even bother with any kind of pie, but since I’ve been craving Pepper steak Pie for over a month now, I’ve decided its time to make it.

I had to start with the puff pastry. I’ve never made my own but I have to say, I don’t think I will ever buy puff pastry again. It just isn’t the same.Home made pastry just melts in your mouth. Admittedly, it takes much longer to make than store bought pastry but if you make a big batch, you can use it more than once.

I used a Rough-puff Pastry recipe from the BBCgoodfoodblog by Gordan Ramsey

TO make this you will need (makes 4 pies)

• 250g strong plain flour
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 250g butter , at room temperature, but not soft
• about 150ml cold water

 

Pepper steak Pie (makes 4 pies)

For the Pie filling

Ingredients

• 5oog steak
• 1/2 cup flour seasoned with salt & pepper ( you can add more if you have more meat)
• olive oil for frying
• 1 onion, sliced
• 5 mushrooms
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1x 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 cup Worcester sauce
• 1-2 tablespoons cracked black pepper (to taste)
• 1/2 cup merlot
• salt to taste
• 1 egg, beaten ( to brush on top of the pastry)

Directions. 

1. Marinade the meat in the Worcester sauce for about 30-60 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
3. In a large pan, put a generous amount of olive oil
4. Coat the meat with the seasoned flour mixture and shake off any excess flour. Put it in the frying pan and fry until golden brown.
5. Remove the meat from the pan and set aside. In the same pan fry the onions, garlic and mushrooms.
6. Add the chopped tomatoes, merlot, rosemary, thyme, pepper and excess Worcester sauce.
7. Add the meat back into the pan and simmer for 10-15 minutes. The meat should already be soft enough so no need to cook it for longer than that.
8. Roll out the puff pastry and cut 2 circles for each pie. I used a breakfast bowl and pressed down hard on the pastry as I don’t have any fancy equipment.
9. Lay the circles on a baking pan, scoop in about 1-2 teaspoons of the meat mixture.
10. Brush the edges of the dish with beaten egg and roll over the puff pastry. Trim the edges then brush with the remaining egg.
11. Make an incision at the top of the pastry in order for the steam to escape.
12. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
13. Remove from the oven and serve.