THE ABSOLUTE BEST steak and Guinness® pie

Method
Prep:10min  ›  Cook:2hr45min  ›  Ready in:2hr55min 

1. Season your beef well with the salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle with flour and toss around until coated.
2. Heat 2 to 3 glugs of olive oil in a large casserole type pot and fry your meat until well browned.
3. Add the onion and fry for one more minute, then add celery, carrots and herbs. Cook for a further 5 minutes then pour in your Guinness®.
4. Add the tinned tomatoes; bring to the boil. Stir well, then simmer for 2 hours or until the meat is tender.
5. The sauce should be nice and thick with an intensley tasty flavour. Season with salt and pepper.
6. To make the pies, preheat the oven to 190 degrees/gas mark 5.
7. Put the meat filling into a large baking dish or 6 ramekins.
8. Roll out pastry and place over your baking dish or ramekins, making sure it is slightly bigger than the circumference of the dish/dishes.
9. Brush the rims of your dish/dishes with beaten egg, then place the pastry on top of the dish, squashing the extra pastry on the outside of the dish to secure. Lightly score the top of the pastry in a criss-cross fashion and brush with more egg.
10. Place on a baking tray (to catch the drips) and bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 45 minutes until golden and bubbling.
11. Let it cool down for 10 minutes before you dig in.
12. Hope you enjoy this as much as i did!

Make ahead...

This pie freezes well - simply assemble the pie and freeze before baking. Once you're ready to bake, simply throw it in the oven straight from the freezer.