Recipe: Beef and Pickled Walnut Pie

A pie or a stew with a lid? Either way this hearty pie hits the spot, with its rich, thick gravy and hint of warm spice from the pickled walnuts.

See the full recipe for our sophisticated pickled walnut ketchup (‘grown-up barbecue sauce’) which goes beautifully with this pie.

For a lighter option you can serve the stew as is with mashed potatoes and a green salad (use the pickle juice instead of vinegar to make a delicious dressing).

Ingredients

• 1kg stewing beef, diced
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 85g butter
• 3 tbsp olive oil 
• 2 onions, sliced
• 1 stick celery, finely diced
• 2 medium carrots, finely diced
• 200g Swiss brown mushrooms, quartered  
• 2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 2 Tbs tomato paste
• 600ml beef stock
• 1 jar pickled walnuts, drained (reserve pickling liquid for ketchup) halved
• 1sheet puff pastry
• 1 egg, beaten

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees celcius.
2. Generously season the flour then toss in the beef to coat. Heat half of the butter and oil in a large, lidded casserole dish. Brown the meat in batches, removing with a slotted spoon as you go. Set beef aside.
3. Melt the remaining butter and oil and fry the onions, carrot and celery and mushrooms for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables have started to colour and soften.
4. Return the beef and cover with stock, add Worcestershire, tomato paste and pickled walnuts. Bring to the simmer, then cover with lid, and place in the preheated oven. Cook for about 2 hours or until the beef is tender and you have a thick glossy gravy.
5. Transfer the stew to a 2 litre pie dish and leave to cool completely (so the hot stew doesn’t melt the pastry).
6. Preheat oven to 200C
7. Brush the edge of the pie dish with egg, to help the pastry stick, then place the pastry sheet over the dish and trim the edges to fit. Brush the top with remaining egg.
8. Make a small snip in the middle to allow the steam to escape then bake for 30 minutes or until the pastry is deep golden and puffed.
9. Serve with pickled walnut ketchup.

Click here to find out more exciting ways you can use pickled walnut in your next meal.