Traditional Suet Crust Steak Pie (Made With Atora Beef Suet)

A mouth-watering combination of steak, vegetables and beef gravy, covered with a classic suet pastry crust. This Traditional Suet Crust Steak Pie is utterly delicious and super simple to make. (Serves 4-6, depending on appetite and accompaniments.)

Course Main Course

Cuisine British

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 2 10

Total Time 2 20

Servings people

Calories 534kcal

Author Eb Gargano

Ingredients

Steak Pie Filling

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion sliced
300 g swede peeled and chopped into bitesize chunks (roughly 1cm/½inch)
300 g carrots peeled and chopped into bitesize chunks (roughly 1cm/½inch)
500 g diced beef (usually sold as ‘diced beef’ or ‘stewing beef’ in supermarkets)
2 tablespoons cornflour
1 beef stock cube (I use Kallo Organic)
700 ml boiling water

Suet Pie Crust

250 g self-raising flour
125 g shredded suet (I use Atora Beef Suet)
¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
Cold water
1 egg beaten

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Pre-heat your oven to 180C / 160C fan / gas mark 4 / 350F.
Place the olive oil and onions in a flameproof, ovenproof pan. (See Notes 1 & 2.) Fry over a low heat, with the lid on, for 3 minutes, or until the onions are softened but not brown.
Turn the heat up to high and add the swede and carrots. Fry for 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are lightly browned.
Meanwhile, make a quick gravy by putting the 2 tablespoons of cornflour and the crumbled beef stock cube into a large jug. Add a splash of cold water and stir to make a smooth paste. Then add the boiling water slowly, stirring to ensure there are no lumps.
Pour the gravy into the pan, and then add the diced beef. Stir and bring to the boil.
Put the lid on the pan and put the pie filling into your preheated oven. Cook for 1 hour 30 minutes. (Check halfway through to ensure there is enough liquid in the pan – top up if necessary. See Note 3.)
At 15 minutes before the pie filling is ready, turn the oven up to 200C / 180C fan / gas mark 6 / 400F, then start making the suet pie crust. Put the flour, suet and salt in a bowl. Stir to ensure the salt and suet are evenly distributed throughout the flour.
Add just enough cold water to make the mixture come together into a firm dough. (Add a little at a time to ensure the dough does not get too wet. The dough should be firm, but not crumbly or sticky.)
On a floured surface, roll the dough out until it is about 2cm (1inch) bigger than your pie dish all the way round. Place your pie dish upside down and cut round the dish using a knife – make your cut around 1cm (½icnh) bigger than the pie dish. Keep the offcuts!
Remove the pie filling from the oven after the 1h30 is up. Carefully transfer the pie filling to a 26cm wide pie dish (with a rim). If your gravy is looking a little thick add a splash of boiling water to thin it out. (See Note 4.)
Crack an egg into a small dish and beat lightly with a fork. Using a pastry brush, brush the rim of your pie dish with the beaten egg and cover the rim with pastry offcuts.
Brush the pastry offcuts with beaten egg and then place the rolled out pastry circle on top of the pie and crimp the edges to attach the pie crust to the offcuts and make the pie look pretty. Trim off any overhang.
Finally, brush the pastry lid all over with the beaten egg. Then cut a small cross in the centre of the pie to allow the steam to escape.
Return the pie into the oven and cook for 30 minutes, or until the suet pie crust is a beautiful golden brown.
Serve with green vegetables and/or mashed potatoes.

Notes

I use a Le Creuset-style cast iron casserole dish, (AKA dutch oven) which can go on the hob and in the oven. If you don’t have a pan that can go on the hob and in the oven, simply start this stew in a regular saucepan and then tip it into an ovenproof dish to go into the oven.
I use a 4 litres capacity / 24cm diameter dutch oven. (4.25 quarts / 9.5 inches) There is certainly some flexibility with this stew, however, so a slightly smaller or larger dutch oven / saucepan / ovenproof dish would still work just fine.
Depending on the kind of oven dish you use, you may find that some of the liquid from the stew is lost through evaporation. The first time you make this stew, you should check on your stew about 1 hour into the cooking. There should be enough liquid that the meat and vegetables are almost completely submerged in the gravy. If you find some of the liquid has evaporated, simply add some more boiling water from the kettle and give the stew a good stir before returning to the oven. Make a note of how much you add, and in future you can add the extra in from the beginning.
Check on the gravy again before covering with the pie lid. The suet crust pastry will absorb some of the liquid, so I recommend adding enough boiling water so the gravy is a little thinner than you would usually make it. By the time the pie is cooked, your gravy will be the perfect thickness!
I recommend using this this 26cm / 10inch Falcon Round Pie Dish.
Not suitable for freezing.
Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Nutrition