Make a slow cooked chunky steak pie with this easy recipe and get some Robertson Pie Shop goodness. I’ll never forget the first time I made a proper meat pie for my love. The look on his face was adoring and I think he nearly proposed!
Meat pies have been classic Aussie cuisine and on pub menus since the 1850s. In the New South Wales Southern Highlands where winter has real bite, Robertson Pie Shop has been baking some of the best pies in the area since 1961. Customers describe their pies as ‘yummy deliciousness in a paper bag’. (You might have to be an Aussie to understand that this is very high praise!)
PIE FACT
A chunky steak pie small enough to fit into your hand is called a hand warmer.
ROBERTSON PIE SHOP CHUNKY STEAK PIE RECIPE
Will Bleeker, the owner of the Robertson Pie Shop in the Southern Highlands, says it’s best to start this chunky meat pie recipe a day ahead as the slow-cooked beef takes around eight hours.
Slow cooking makes the beef pieces melt in the mouth. If you want a quicker meat pie recipe method, try 160 Celsius in the oven for three hours and heat the beef stock before adding it to the meat mix.
Ingredients
- 1 kg diced chuck steak
- 1 brown onion chopped
- ½ cup of peas and corn
- 2 carrots peeled, chopped into chunks
- 2 potatoes chopped, chopped into chunks
- 2 stalks of celery, chopped
- 2 cups of beef stock
- 1 packet premade puff pastry
- 1 packet pre-made shortcrust pastry
- Optional: Parisienne Essence (see recipe)
- Note: You can substitute or add any other vegetables you like.
Instructions
METHOD
- Place all ingredients (except pastry) into a slow cooker and season with salt and pepper. Less is more, says Steve because you can always add extra later, but you can’t take it out if you over do it!
- Cover with beef stock and cook in a slow cooker cook for eight hours.
- Optional – Will says use Parisienne Essence to colour the mix but be careful or your chunky steak pie will be too dark.
- At the end of the cooking, thicken with cornflour if you are going to hold the pie in your hands to eat. Blend ¼ cup of water with 4 tablespoons of cornstarch into a paste. Add this to the mixture and cook on high until thickened.
TO ASSEMBLE PIE
- Preheat oven to 220 Celsius
- Grease one large or four individual pie pans with butter.
- Line the base with shortcrust pastry and blind bake so it won’t go soggy. To bind bake – cover with a sheet of baking paper and weigh it down with a layer of rice or dried beans. Bake for 20 minutes at 180 Celsius, then lift out the paper and brush the base with beaten egg.
- Fill the pie base with meat mixture. Brush the rim with egg wash and cover with puff pastry. Press around the edges to seal
- Brush the top with egg wash (an egg thinned with a bit of water).
- Bake until the top of your chunky steak pie is golden, about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Tip: Use the left-over pastry pieces to decorate the top of the pie.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 975Total Fat: 52gSaturated Fat: 21gTrans Fat: 3gUnsaturated Fat: 28gCholesterol: 251mgSodium: 539mgCarbohydrates: 48gNet Carbohydrates: 48gFiber: 7gSugar: 10gSugar Alcohols: 10gProtein: 80g
A slow cooked chunky steak pie is a real Aussie treat.
How to eat an Aussie meat pie on the go
Eating a meat pie properly is a serious skill that is developed in Australia from childhood. If you like tomato sauce (I am in the minority here as a tomato sauce hater), getting the correct ratio of sauce to meat is an art form developed over many tasting sessions.
The next important task is making sure the pie is not too hot when you eat it from the packet or the meat that dribbles down your chin will burn your skin leaving telltale pie-eating marks.
- Put tomato sauce on top and bite
- Make a hole in the pie and squirt the tomato sauce inside
- Forget the sauce and just bite into the pie. (Personal preference)
- Take the lid off and eat the meat first, then the pastry.
- Take the pie out of the packet, put it on a plate and eat it with a knife and fork. Do not, under any circumstances, turn your pie upside down or someone will think you are an American.
Stop for Pie Time at Robertson Pie Shop
A traditional country bakery, Robertson Pie Shop is famous in the Southern Highlands for both savoury and sweet pies. Expect to find traditional favourites such as meat, steak and kidney, chicken and vegetable, chicken and bacon, spinach and ricotta, as well as pasties. Their sweet pies include apple, peach, apricot, wild berry (small variety) and apple, apple and strawberry, apple and blueberry, apple and rhubarb and wild berry (large varieties).
Robertson Pie Shop is located at 4400 Illawarra Highway in Robertson. It’s a three-minute drive east of Robertson Village, at the intersection of Illawarra Highway and Jamberoo Mountain Road.
More exploring
Discover more of New South Wales with this round up of edible adventures or explore NSW wine country.
Thinking about dinner?
Try this Nonna style Pork Neck Sugo,
