How to Bake Pie and Mash

Serves: 5

Preparation time: 2 hours

Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients needed to make Pie and Mash:

For the filling:

• 500 gm ground beef
• 250 gm beef stock
• 250 ml beef broth
• 1 ½ tbsp all purpose flour

For the flaky pastry:

• 225 gm all purpose flour
• 80 gm unsalted butter
• 80 gm lard
• Pinch of salt

For the suet pastry:

• 350 gm all purpose flour
• 1 ½ kg potatoes, chopped into chunks
• Butter, as needed

For the parsley liquor:

• 4 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• ½ bouillon cube
• 25 gm all purpose flour
• 25 gm unsalted butter
• 300 ml water

Cooking instructions for Pie and Mash:

• Heat a lashing of oil in a deep-based skillet and brown the ground meat for 5 minutes, stirring regularly and crumbling them with the spatula.
• Dust the flour over it and give it a nice stir to coat well.
• Pour in the beef broth while stirring the mixture continuously, to prevent the formation of any lumps, and bring it to a boil.
• Reduce it to a simmer and continue to cook, covered, for about 20 minutes; turn off the heat and set aside.
• To make the flaky pastry, stir a dash of salt into the flour and add half of the lard into the mixture.
• Rub them together with your fingers to mix well and stir in water until they blend together to form a soft, smooth dough.
• Place rest of the lard in a separate bowl and beat in butter until well combined.
• Flatten the out into 12.5cm x 25 cm rectangle, using a rolling pin and brush 2/3 of this dough with 1/3 of the lard blend.
• Fold the remaining 1/3 of the rectangle over the greased portion so that half of the latter is covered and fold the other third over it.
• Run a rolling pin over them to seal the ends and wrap it up with a plastic sheet.
• Leave in the fridge to chill for 10 minutes.
• Repeat the process of folding twice more, using rest of the lard, while chilling it in the fridge for 10 minutes after each folding.
• Fold it once more last time, without the lard blend and chill for half an hour.
• To make the suet pastry, mix all its ingredients into a smooth dough and wrap them with a plastic sheet to chill in the fridge for half an hour.
• Roll the dough into 2 mm thick rectangle and set aside.
• Warm up your oven to 190 degrees C and spoon in 2 tsp water into the base of the pie mold.
• Spread the suet pastry over it and wrap the edges around the rim.
• Spoon in the cooked beef so that ¾ of it is filled up and paint the rim of the pie base with beaten egg.
• Place the flaky pastry on top and pinch the edges together to seal.
• Smother the surface with a lashing of the egg wash and bake in the middle rack of the oven for half an hour or until the crust turns golden brown.
• Meanwhile to make the mash, mash the boiled potatoes into a smooth mass and beat it along with large splodge of butter and a dash of seasonings until well combined.
• To make the liquor, melt the butter in a skillet until it foams and dust the flour over it.
• Cook for a minute, stirring regularly, and whisk in water until well mixed.
• Crumble the bouillon cube into it, stir, and bring the mixture to a boil while stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens.
• Stir in the chopped parsley, along with a dash of seasonings until well combined and remove from heat.
• Serve the pies warm alongside the mash and drizzle the liquor on top and around them.

Image credit: Wikipedia