OVERVIEW

These classic pies are filled with beef feather blade, also known as flat iron steak. Before you gently simmer the meat in a Cast Iron Dutch Oven, you’ll first grill it over direct heat to enhance the flavour. If you were making a large pie, you would need to make a vent in the top or use a pie bird to allow any steam to escape. However, for these individual pies, you don’t need to worry about any of that. They’re only filled three-quarters of the way, and the baking time is shorter, so you’ll be eating them in no time at all.

SET UP YOUR EGG

Set up your EGG for direct cooking with a Cast Iron Searing Grid in place. Target temperature is 220°C.

To make the pastry, chop the cold butter into cubes. Mix with the flour, suet, water and salt, then knead into a pliable, elastic dough. Wrap the dough ball in clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Finely chop the thyme and rosemary leaves. Mix the herbs with the olive oil and rub into the steak.

Pies | Steak pies | Slow cook | low and slow | steak

SEAR THE BEEF

Place the steak on the grid for about 2 minutes. Give the steak a quarter turn and grill for another 2 minutes. Turn the steak over and repeat on the other side. Close the Dome after each step.

Place the seared steak on a cutting board. Remove the grid. Switch your setup to indirect cooking by installing the ConvEGGtor in a legs-up position, topped with the Stainless Steel Grid. Place a Cast Iron Dutch Oven on the grid and leave it to heat up. Meanwhile, peel the onion and cut into thin wedges. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Chop the mushroom stems and caps into slices. Cut the steak into 1cm-wide slices.

STEW THE FILLING

Melt the butter in the Dutch oven and add the onion, garlic, mushrooms, bay leaves and steak. Stir, then add the veal stock and Guinness. Close the Dome and bring the temperature to 160°C. Cook for 1½-2 hours until the meat is tender.

Remove the Dutch oven from the EGG and fish the bay leaves out of the stew. Heat the EGG to 220°C.

ASSEMBLE THE PIES

Meanwhile, grease four small round pie tins (approximately 11cm diameter) with butter. Dust with flour and tap out any excess. Divide the dough into four equal portions. On a floured worktop, roll out the dough. Use a round object like an upside-down plate to help you cut out neat circles large enough to cover the tins and provide a 2cm overhang. Keep the trimmings. Line each tin with a pastry circle. Add the filling to the lined tins, making sure you stop three-quarters of the way up each one. Knead the trimmings of the dough into a ball, then divide into four equal portions. On the floured worktop, roll out each portion into 15cm circles. These are your pie tops.

For the wash, beat 1 egg yolk with the flour and use it to coat the edge of the pastry in the tin. Cover with a pie top, press the overhanging edges together firmly then fold down so that the filling is completely sealed. Beat the second egg yolk with the water and brush the tops. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes.