Single Serve Meat Pie

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees c (fan)

In a large roomy ovenproof casserole melt the fat/heat the oil then add the chopped onion and fry on a medium heat for about 10 minutes until the onions have softened but not browned. Add the garlic, carrot, mushrooms and celery and stir well, keeping the heat low.

Place the beef, oxtail piece and chopped kidney along with the seasoned flour and spice into a strong plastic bag and give a shake so that all of the meat has a flour coating.  Drop the meat and residual flour into the pan and stir on a high heat for a few minutes.

Reduce the heat and add in the beef stock, red wine if using, tomato puree and thyme. Give everything a good stir with a wooden spoon.  If there are any stuck on deposits at the base of the pan these will release as the liquid gets to work on them.  Give everything a good stir, put on the lid and transfer either to a slow cooker for 12 hours or into a low oven at 100 degrees c for 12 hours or conventional oven at 180 degrees for 1.5 to 2 hours or until the meat is very tender.

When the meat is cooked I use a slotted spoon to extract the meat and vegetables, leaving a delicious gravy behind. Check the gravy for seasoning then transfer to a small saucepan to reheat later.

Note – if you have used a piece of oxtail you need to find it and remove and discard the bone. The meat will just fall from it.

Once the filling is completely cold I crumble over a beef Oxo cube and the grated cheese and stir this through the cold meat and vegetables. It darkens everything, thickens and adds a little more flavour.

Divide the pastry into four or six equal pieces then roll each one out to the size of a tea plate.   I use a pizza cutter to neatly cut around the plate, take out a quarter of the pastry, use the large piece to line a large cup or soup bowl and re-roll the quarter taken out and use as a lid.

Fill the cup/bowl with the cold meat filling then top off with the small circle of pastry. Dampen the top circle then gently fold over the edges of the larger circle, sticking them down onto the pastry.  Transfer the cup/bowl to the fridge to firm up for at least an hour.

Tap the cup/bowl and the pie will pop out, transfer it to a baking sheet lined with paper or baking parchment then make an air hole in the centre using the wide end of a metal piping nozzle. Give an egg wash and pop back into the fridge until the oven comes up to temperature.  When the oven has reached temperature apply a second egg wash.

Bake for 30 minutes and serve hot with the gravy and a green vegetable. If baking from frozen bake for 40 minutes or until dark golden brown.

TIP These ingredients will make one large family sized one crust pie – 23 cm dish size.

TIP If you decide to freeze the pies then apply the two egg washes before freezing then bake from frozen.