Fall apart, ultra tender chunks of beef, bursts of fresh mushroom smothered in the most incredible gravy and topped with flaky, golden puff pastry. My friends, this is not just another beef pie. This is an EPIC Chunky Beef and Mushroom Pie with a little secret ingredient that takes this to the next level!
This is the sort of food that makes me do the happy dance. Literally. I took a massive spoonful and was jumping up and down with glee. It was everything I had hoped it would be, and more.
Non foodies will find it hard to understand the elation you feel when you make something that is this good. I mean, gravy even in its most basic form (and anything you smother in gravy) is fantastic.
But with this Chunky Beef and Mushroom Pie, with just one bite, you know it’s a step up from the usual pie. You may not be able to put your finger on it, but you know there’s something different about it – just better.
This is the secret ingredient – Dried Porcini Mushrooms. Just a tiny amount adds a punch of savouriness and earthiness – in posh foodie language, it adds umami.
Gourmet ingredient? Yes. But:
a) you don’t need much, just 20g/0.7 oz and the soaking liquid forms part of the braising liquid; and
b) ALDI SPECIAL BUY *** ALDI SPECIAL BUY *** ALDI SPECIAL BUY!!!!
About 5 years ago, back when I was in corporate, a group of my colleagues were talking animatedly about the ALDI Special Buys for that week (which, from memory, was ski gear at insanely good prices). There they were, a group of professionals, all dressed up in suits and heels and I couldn’t believe that they were so excited about it that they lined up at ALDI just to get the deal!!
What the????
I had clearly missed the ALDI train. I am now a firm regular on the ALDI train.
Nowadays, whenever one of my foodie friends come across an awesome ALDI deal, we send out a group text. “OMG!!! Luv-a-Duck only $12!!!” “I found lobster tails at ALDI. LOBSTER TAILS!!!!!” “Bargain Bonds at ALDI, OMG, I got stacks!!” (OK, the last one is not food, but yes it has happened. Or maybe it was Calvin Klein, I can’t remember.)
(And yes, there are always lots of caps and exclamation marks).
And this weeks’ ALDI Special Buys including things that are right up my alley – GOURMET COOKING INGREDIENTS! Truffles, gold leaf gelatine, Dutch Cocoa (bakers, take note!), and one of my favourite secret ingredients: dried porcini mushrooms. <3
Dried Porcini Mushrooms are like a secret weapon stock. And I used it to make this Chunky Beef and Mushroom Pie because it makes the most incredible gravy sauce ever.
Topped with some flaky, golden puff pastry (yes, I know it looks crazy yellow but that’s how it comes out if you brush with egg yolk)……and that moment when you break through that pastry to reveal the tender, fall apart beef and the smell of that savoury extra-tasty-gravy….
Well, let’s just say you should prepare to swoon.
Or do as I did. Do a happy dance! – Nagi xx
MORE COSY PIES
- Chicken Pot Pie
- Cottage Pie (beef)
- Shepherd’s Pie (lamb – because Shepherd’s herd sheep!)
- Fish Pie
- Leftover Turkey Pot Pie with Garlic Bread Topping
- Browse all cosy Winter Warmers
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Epic Chunky Beef and Mushroom Pie
Ingredients
- 20 g / 0.7 oz dried porcini mushrooms (slices, whole or chopped) (Note 1)
- 1 ¼ cups / 312 ml boiled water
- 1 kg / 2 lb chuck beef , cut into 2.5cm/1” cubes (Note 2)
- 1 – 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 onion , finely chopped
- 1 celery , finely chopped
- 1 carrot , finely chopped
- 3 carrots , halved lengthwise then cut into 1.5cm/ 3/5” chunks
- 1/3 cup flour (any)
- 300 ml / 10 oz dark ale (or substitute with red wine, Guinness or more beef stock)
- 2 cups / 500 ml beef stock
- 3 sprigs thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme leaves
- 2 bay leaves , fresh or dried
- 200 g / 7 oz bacon , diced
- 300 – 400g / 10 – 13 oz Swiss brown mushrooms , larger ones halved
- 1 – 2 sheets puff pastry (enough to cover pie)
- 1 egg yolk
Instructions
- Place porcini in a bowl and add hot water. Leave to soak for at least 30 minutes. Strain mushrooms and reserve soaking liquid. Roughly chop porcini.
- Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large heavy based pot. Add half the beef and brown all over, then remove and repeat with remaining beef. Set beef aside.
- Turn stove down to medium low. If the pot is looking dry, add more oil. Add onion and garlic, cook for 2 minutes. Add finely chopped carrots and celery, cook for 6 minutes or until softened and sweet (taste test!). Add carrot chunks and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add flour and stir through.
- Add ale, beef stock, and stir to dissolve the flour.
- Add thyme, bay leaves, porcini, reserved porcini soaking liquid (don’t tip in gritty bits settled at bottom) and cooked beef. Turn heat up slightly, mix, bring to simmer, then cover. Adjust heat so it is simmering gently, not energetically.
- Cook for 1 hr 45 minutes or until beef is tender. (See video)
- Meanwhile, cook bacon in a skillet over high heat until golden. Remove and reserve bacon drippings in pan. Add mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes until golden all over. Return bacon into skillet, toss to coat mushrooms, then stir through stew.
- Simmer stew, uncovered, for 15 minutes until mushrooms are tender. Then remove from stove and cool.
To cook:
- Preheat oven to 200C/390F.
- Pour stew into a pie dish, even out surface. Pictured pie dish is 24 x 20 x 4.5 cm / 10 x 8 x 1.8″ (1.5L / 1.5 Qt) – see Notes for more conversions.
- Top with puff pastry (if too big, just fold the ends in), brush with egg yolk. Cut a few slits in the surface then bake for 30 – 35 minutes until deep golden and the filling is piping hot in the middle (stick a knife in to check).
- Rest for 5 minutes before serving!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Today’s recipe is brought to you courtesy of ALDI Australia! Made using Dried Porcini Mushrooms which are one of many gourmet cooking ingredients that will be available as part of this weeks’ ALDI Special Buys which are available from today, Wednesday 28 June 2017, until sold out. Hurry! 😉
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
EPIC Chunky Beef and Mushroom Pie recipe video!
LIFE OF DOZER
Always happy. Playing. Sleeping. Or eating. i.e. Always happy.
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I made your eggplant parmigiana tonight and it was amazing delicious! What a spectacular recipe filled with robust flavors and healthy ingredients. Thank you!
Love you Nagi- If i reduce this down a bit can I put it into 6 smaller pies?
Hi Alyse! If you have a look at the Meat Pies recipe (which makes individual pies) then you’ll get an idea of how much meat/filling you need to make X individual pies. 🙂 Hope that helps! N x https://salesdock.info/meat-pie-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-36524%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Holly molly!!! Best pie ever eaten hands down, let alone made at home!!.
Soo good 😋
Already a dried porcini fan, I just had to make this & it tastes as amazing as anticipated… A++++
I did the slow cooker version and it came out beautifully. Thank you for another winner
AMAZING!! Soo deliciously tasty…I’ll definitely be making this one again. I had to change the recipe to be gluten free and it was still incredible! So much flavour!
Hi can I substitute dried porcini with shiitake That’s all I could find in Woollies
Hi Milly, Shiitake have more flavour, they would be a great substitute here! N x
Hi Nagi,
This was a truly Epic and fantastic dish!!
I made the filling a day a head, and I used the porcini
mushrooms, porcini broth, beef broth and red wine.
I made Individual pies and gifted them out!
Everyone raved about them!
All your recipes are gorgeous!
Cottage pie next for me.
Thanks so much, Nagi. Monica
It’s best the day after! My batch made enough for 2 so I froze one which was just as delicious. While it was delicious, maybe not enough to compel me to spend the time making again. That said, I was very happy I had it in the freezer because it did give us a yummy unexpected dinner
This was well worth the effort, so……good!
Delicious!! Made the filling the day before and assembled it the next day after a hike. Was extremely hard not to keep “tasting” the filling while cooking it. The dried mushrooms were expensive but worth it as it took the dish to the next level. Bf said it’s by far the best pie filling / gulasch (minus the paprika obviously :D) and i concur. Thanks a ton Nagi 🙂
Superb! I made the filling the day before, which made this a quick-to-assemble dinner last night after a walk in the frigid cold. I also used individual dishes, which worked really well and — gasp— didn’t used dried mushrooms as my husband’s not a fan of the taste. Chopping up some of the carrot for the gravy is a great idea. The only teeny tiny change I’d make is to glaze with whole egg, not just yolk.: easier and (I think) the colour is better. Finally, as an American living in the U.K., I understand that Americans think a pie has to have a bottom. This is not cherry pie, folks! Thanks, Nagi!
Delicious! I subbed in red wine and made the pies in individual serves in the pie maker and the family loved it. Hubby said it was well worth the effort! Will definitely be making this again! Thanks for another winner, Nagi!
Amazing, my fiance is officially in love! Thank you <3
Forgot to rate it! :o)
Just made this today; and it does take quite a lot of effort so definitely not a mid week meal! However, it was sooo worth it, especially as it is bitter here in London today.
I thought I would share a couple, not tweaks, as `I followed the recipe, but a couple things I did for those in the UK and those that use instant pot/slow cooker.
I have a Ninja Foodi, so I put this on for 6 hours in the morning on low on the slow cooker function. After about 3 hours, I thought it was not cooked to where I would have anticipated it to be, so I turned it up to high for another 2 hours. The beef was still not fall apart soft as I would have expected after that length of time. Now, this could be the cut (brisket) or that the Ninja Foodi’s slow cooker is not quite what you would get in a standard slow cooker. This is the first time I have used it for slow cooking. So, I put it on low/pressure cooker for 5 minutes, quick release and this finished it off to a tee; fall apart beef.
For those of you who say you have too much liquid, I did not want to reduce the liquid down any more as it was quite thick already and I did not want the veg to turn to mush, so I simply ladled out some of the gravy till it was what I would consider enough gravy for a pie filling ( plus my husband likes extra gravy to pour over)would not make the pastry soggy and proceeded per Nagi’s recipe. I did wipe the edges of the dish with butter to stop the pastry from sticking and I have no clue what Swiss Mushrooms are, so I used button mushrooms.
I cook a lot, but have always shied away from making pies, so thank you Nagi for a great recipe and for testing all these wonderful dishes, so we your readers get the end result! If anyone is humming and hawing over making this, please give it a go as it really is worth the effort !
Amazing recipe! Wow!
Thankyou!
This is truly epic. The Mayor in our town got COVID and I was looking for a meal to make for the family and this one delivered. Sauce is incredible. We had extra, so I used bisquick mix for dough on the bottom of the glass dish, then extra filling and topped it with the rest of the dough. It was really great. Thanks very much
This is a truly an epic pie! Slow cooked the filling on low for 6 hours. Added 100g of extra mushrooms and was a wee bit generous with the Guinness! May try adding the whole 5oo ml can next time for extra gravy. Other than these adjustments, I followed the recipe as is, and the pie is AMAZING!
The best pie I’ve ever cooked, and undoubtedly, one of the best I’ve ever tasted. I only had dried shitake mushrooms. I’ll buy porchini for the many more I’ll make. I did laminate two sheets of the top puff pastry with egg wash between them and gently rolled them. It gave a thicker flaky texture which was very nice.
Made this for thanksgiving weekend. Was a big hit!
I wish the stew thickened up a bit more. Next time I may add more flour, or use less liquid.