steak and veg pie

Here is a simple meat pie recipe that you can improve in your own way by adding wine, ale or even a bit of cider. Simply reduce the amount of stock to 100ml and add 100ml or so of your favourite tipple.
Steak and veg pie.

Ingredients
1 steak that you would use to feed 2 people chopped into chunks.
1 onion
1 carrot
200ml stock (veg or meat)
1 teaspoon of marmite
mixed herbs
seasoning
knob of butter
250g shortcrust pastry
(ale, cider etc optional but remember to reduce the amount of stock)

Method

Add the chopped chunks of meat to a frying pan and brown on all sides. Remove from the pan and leave on a plate whilst you then fry the onion in the butter until soft.
Throw in the carrots and fry for a few minutes and add the mixed herbs.
Throw in the meat again.

Add the stock (and ale if using), a teaspoon of marmite and stir everything well.
Season and taste.
Bring to the boil, put the lid on and turn the heat right down to a simmer. Leave for about 15 minutes.
I have found that if I use good quality steak rather than just stewing steak the meat cooks really well in the time given for the whole meal.

I used a shortcrust pastry for my lid and used half a pack of ready made pastry from the cooler section in the supermarket. I made two small pies and froze one. You could add the whole of the mixture to a shallow dish and use all of the pastry.

Add the mixture to the dish you are using, roll out the pastry, egg the rim and lay the pastry over the dish. If it sags in the middle you can use a ramekin dish or similar in the middle of your dish to hold it up, simply place it into your mixture then lay the pastry over the top.

Use a pastry brush and egg the top of the pastry.

Put in the oven for around 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

Eaten with boiled spuds and veg, lovely.