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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Nagi, I was very happy to hear that Perth has Aldi. And right in the neighbourhood we’re about to move to! In the UK Aldi was our nearest supermarket so I’m used to the bargains.
The pie is making me mega hungry. We haven’t really eaten great since we arrived!
Do you find Aldi different here? Curious!
Hi Nagi
Your blog had me running off to Aldi (Q Super centre, Gold Coast) first thing yesterday morning. I had walked through an Aldi once before but didn’t think much of it. I opened my eyes yesterday and couldn’t believe what I found! I know you said that I could find everything to make this dish there… and I did: even the 28cm enamel baking dish for $8! I had planned to use a regular casserole dish but having that little ledge to lay the pastry on…that’s gold! Mine stuck a bit, perhaps I should have greased it first?
I’m a huge fan of my pressure cooker (Breville FAST SLOW COOKER) so I tweaked your recipe just a little. After getting the porcini soaking (only $3.99 at Aldi!) I started cooking with Step 9 using the SEAR setting. Apart from not needing to dirty another pan, the residual flavour went into the dish. I used the SEAR setting through til Step 7. Step 4 did not take as much time as noted in your recipe. (If I thought it was getting too hot, I would just switch the setting over to WARM). I cooked the beef (I bought gravy beef) on HIGH PRESSURE for 25 minutes. Then I used the WARM setting for the remainder of the recipe. If you need to evaporate more liquid, I would switch it over to the SEAR setting for a bit.
My husband was still raving about this dish this morning. So much for leftovers… we all loved it so much we overate!
Thank you!
BA HA HA!!! Isn’t it an eye opener?? Until my colleagues told me about it, I had never been. Now I’m a regular!!! And guess what – I USE THE BREVI
LLE TOO!!! You wouldn’t believe the number of comments I get on videos where I use it where people say “that’s not a slow cooker, it’s a pressure cooked” and I have to explain. 🙂 I always write my recipes starting on the stove then finishing in the slow cooker because most people don’t have the awesome sear function. I’m so so pleased you enjoyed this Chris, thank you for letting me know! PS My pastry got a bit stuck to the ledge too but it didn’t bother me because it’s only a bit but yes you could grease it 🙂
What would substitute for Swiss Brown mushrooms? I seriously doubt we could find those here on island, and I know we don’t have anything like an Aldi store here. Perhaps those are found on Oahu, but not in the very rural area of the far less populated island I live on – Big Island. Thanks! and thanks for all your yummy recipes.
Hi Merrily. Have you tried the Hamakua Heritage Farm in Laupahoehoe? They have stopped the tours but might still have a store or can let you know where to buy their produce. I think Crimini mushrooms are what we call Swiss Browns in Australia. They might be easier to find on the Big Island?
Hi Merrily! Any mushrooms will be fine, if you can’t find mushrooms, then add chunky vegetables of your choice – like potato, more carrots. zucchini, or baby onions. Just bear in mind the cook time – carrots and onions can handle the slow cooking time, potatoes and zucchini would get too mushy so add them towards the end etc. 🙂
Good one Nagi! You have bit me to shout Aldi this week!! Bought all yumiiii vinegars, dark cherry, plum, pomegraniteand salt mill with roses, calendula, at last garlic inOIL, olive oil the lot. Am going today to get fresh pork hock will cook in Apple cider with whole apple in heavy cast iron pan with good lid, but first need to on stove cook in cold water ONLY05 min discard water rins meat and pot and than cider, rest and in oven for two hours, or until falls apart. Beautiful spicy salad cauliflower, celery, zucchini good dressing and if you are in mood to make flat bread. Cheers!! Here’s to you and Aldi!!
BA HA HA!!! You’re like ME! I’m going there this afternoon to stock up on more goodies. The truffle is INCREDIBLE value!!
Amazing Gurl….
High praise! N xx
Hi Nagi, this looks tasty, can you make it the day before and reheat the following day?
Yes yes yes! I’ve added storage instructions in the notes 🙂 N xx
Hi Nagi, I was wondering if it would be OK to substitute dried porcini mushrooms with dried shiitake mushrooms or would the flavour be altered too much . Love ALL your recipes cheers Jennifer
Hi Jennifer, that would be terrific! The flavour of the shiitake mushroom soaking liquid is not as strong so it will reduce that extra “something something” porcini gives it but it will still have an edge 🙂 One tip would be to reduce the soaking liquid to intensify the flavour i.e. 2 cups soaking liquid reduced to 1 cup which is how much is used with porcini 🙂 N xx
Oh, I love making this with Guiness: adds that special umami flavour best methinks! Aldi: I get the specials newssheet into my mailbox: easiest way to know what is on . . .
YEs to Guinness in this! Irish stew style! N x
Hello Nagi, Sorry to ask more questions about this great recipe. What brand of ale do you use? And do you find ale preferable to red wine in this dish? I will make this recipe in the coming weeks in the slow cooker put will serve as a casserole with extra veg rather than as a pie. I was going to go to Aldi to buy a ‘special buy’ sautee pan and will now pick up some porcini mushrooms as well, if they haven’t all sold out due to you posting this recipe!!
Thanks
Heidi
Hi Heidi! I’m so sorry to say I don’t know 🙂 I’m not an Ale drinker so I literally just look for a bottle that says “Dark Ale” and use that. I prefer ale because it gives it that earthy flavour that is traditional beef and ale pies – old school English style – however, Guinness and red wine are also fantastic. I’d happily use any of them but Ale is my “go to”. And YES to serving this as a casserole! Definitely not your usual beef stew! I’m planning to go to Aldi this afternoon and keeping my fingers crossed they haven’t sold out! N xx
Hi Nagi
In the recipe you have said to saute the finely chopped CARROT instead of onion.
Looks like a great recipe, as there are only 2 of us I am thinking of freezing half of the meat mix and making one pie now and another one later.
Perfect to freeze! 🙂 Let me check the recipe, might be a typo! 🙂 N xx
Sorry, I just notice there are 2 lots of carrots fine and chunky. Silly me.
No worries! I just checked to make sure there was! N xx
I do not understand the third ingredient “2 lb. beef chuck or gravy.” What kind of meat is gravy?
Hi Eileen! It’s a type of slow cooking beef sold here in Australia 🙂 I’ve fixed up the language a bit and added a note!
It’s what we call gravy beef. It’s like chuck steak. Hope this helps.
Thanks Valerie! N xx
Hi Nagi. Could you use it as filling for pies in a pie maker or would the mixture be too wet. Thank you for your simply delicious recipes. My family loves you.
Hi Valerie! You could definitely use it after letting it cool, it gets very thick then gravy-like once reheated again inside the pastry!
What a thing of beauty?! I know where I can get Porcini Mushrooms – they will cost an arm and a leg but whose counting. I really love homemade pies and this looks a good home comfort one. I also enjoy Pub pies as well. Off now to get the Mushrooms…………
Give the lovely Dozer a hug for me – he has such a lovely face. He can share my pie!!!
He uses his cuteness as a weapon. And he knows how to target the weakest link!!! 😉 N xx
This is a fantastic recipe – thanks for suggesting the pressure cooker – that made it come together so very easy. The only change I made was of course I used Better than Bouillon Beef base (has no MSG) and because I don’t drink alcohol, I used red unsweetened grape juice instead of the wine. It has the almost the same acidic value as wine. Came out fantastic!!! Thanks for sharing.
Wow!! You tried it already! 😂So pleased you enjoyed it,thanks so much for letting me know! N xx
Can you tell me the dimensions of the casserole you used to cook this dish? It looks wonderful!
Hi Donna! Sorry for late reply, a local reader above provided dimensions, I’ll add more details when I get home! N xx
Nagi this looks fabulous cant wait to try
Hope you do Chery! N xx
Hello Nagi,
I receive your email recipes and have saved some that appeal to me on my hard drive for possible future use. This recipe is one I wish to make soon. I am not sure large of baking dish I should use since I am not sure what size a pie plate is. In the U.S. pie plates are generally round with regular sizes being 8″ or more typically 9″ I believe and the sides are angled out ward at the top. As best I can tell your pie plate is rectangular. What would be a suitable size glass baking dish should I use as far as length, width and depth measured in inches approximately? Your help would be greatly appreciated.
My sincere thanks in advance and do keep the good recipes coming.
Dennis
Dennis Clark
p.s.
I did not vote for the lunatic in our White House 🙂
Hi Dennis! I will check when I get home and let you know. So pleased you are enjoying my recipes, thank you for reading! N xx
Hi Dennis, I’m an avid reader and maker of Nagi’s recipes, I also live in Australia not far from where she lives. Now for the pie dish Nagi’s used it’s an enameled pie dish which looks like an 11 X 9 X 2 inch (28 X 23 X 5cm). Knowing that most American pie dishes are round 8 inch (21cm) or 9 inch (23cm) I feel you could use a 10 inch (25cm)round dish for this pie. Stretching it to a 9 X 13 inch (23 X 32cm) rectangular dish means you may not have enough of the filling unless you you add a bit more to the filling. My suggestion would be 1/ 2lb – half pound (250g) beef, 1/ 2 onion, 1 stick celery, 1 carrot and maybe an extra 4 ozs. (115g) bacon and even just a few more mushrooms. I have to admit that I’m a recipe addict and love cooking especially anything that Nagi posts. Every recipe I try that’s posted from American sites (Pinterest & others) I have to convert the oz./lbs to g/kg, inches to cm, also temperatures F. to C. so I have printed out charts and stuck up inside my pantry door for quick reference. I hope these suggestions help you and enjoy cooking and eating anything Nagi posts as she’s one of my best sites and I love hearing about Dozer (her dog). By-the-way this recipe is just one of her BEST, make it and TUCK in!!!
Hi Josephine, you are SO WONDERFUL to share that information with Dennis! Thank you very much 🙂 I updated the recipe with my pie dish dimensions including volume so it’s easy to figure out what other pie dishes ca be used for it. And thank you for your amazing compliments, I’m so flattered!! N xx
Nagi I’ve always believed “When compliments are due, compliments should be given” no matter. Love you as much as Dozer.
Thanks Josephine for this additional information.
Don’t worry we have our own (nor did I). Looks fantastic too – I think my neighbours will share this with me. Plus Dozer – I’m in love.
Ohh Nagi, this looks so good I can feel the inches creeping on the hips !!!
Summer here in France but I think i am going to have to make it anyway, just
can’t wait until winter.
YES YOU SHOULD!! 😜
Ohhh.. Nagi! That pie looks so yummy and juicy and all the good things that I can think 🙂
But hot for you right now, hmm? ☀️😜
It’s crazy hot and humid around here for sure.
This looks really interesting and yummy, thank you Nagi! I can’t wait to make it!
Your own love for what you do, making wonderful food, comes through so clearly in your recipe descriptions! This is the reason why I keep your recipes and make lots of them! It’s always a cause for joy! All of these happy dots connected all over the world, I’m so glad to be among them!
Also, we have Aldi’s where we live in Upstate New York — our Aldi’s stires are “medium” sized grocery stores — not super stores, but I love Aldi’s and will look for the dried mushrooms! They always have something interesting new coming and going!
Dozer is such sweetie! Give him a treat!
Thank you so much for your lovely message Nadine! And treat passed in and very happily received …. 🐶