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Scottish Steak Pie

Scottish steak pie is braised beef in a rich gravy under a golden puff pastry lid, the dish Scots share on New Year's Day.
Recipe Scottish Steak Pie
  • Difficulty Medium
  • Preparation 30 minutes
  • Cooking 2 hours and40 minutes
  • Servings for 4 people

Steak pie is what most families in Scotland eat on New Year’s Day: cubes of braising steak slowly cooked with onion in a dark, savory gravy, under a lid of puff pastry and with no pastry base. It comes to the table with mashed potatoes and peas, carrots or mashed turnip, the Scottish neeps.

The custom dates from the time when Christmas was a normal working day in Scotland and the great winter holiday was Hogmanay and New Year. After a long night of celebrations, a pie ordered from the local butcher only had to go in the oven, and on 31 December many butchers still sell out of them.

The filling tastes even better when made a day ahead, which leaves only the pastry lid for the first day of the year.

Ingredients for 4 people

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Method

  1. Toss the beef cubes with the flour until lightly coated. Heat the oil in a large heavy pan or casserole over high heat and brown the meat in two batches, turning it until it has a deep brown crust on all sides; lift each batch out onto a plate.
  2. Lower the heat to medium, add the chopped onion to the pan and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring and scraping up the browned bits from the base, until soft and golden.
  3. Return the beef and its juices to the pan. Pour in the boiling water, crumble in the stock cube and add the Worcestershire sauce, the tomato purée (tomato paste), the white pepper and the bay leaf. Season lightly with salt, stir and bring to the boil.
  4. Cover, turn the heat down to a gentle simmer and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring now and then, until the beef is very tender and the gravy is thick and glossy. If the gravy is thin, uncover the pan for the last 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and check the seasoning.
  5. Spoon the filling into a 24 cm (9 1/2 inch) pie dish and let it cool completely: hot filling melts the butter in the pastry and makes it soggy. For the best flavor, make the filling the day before and keep it covered in the fridge.
  6. Preheat the oven to 200 °C (400 °F). Unroll the puff pastry over the dish, trim it so it overhangs the rim slightly and press the edges onto the rim to seal. Cut a small steam hole in the center and decorate the top with leaves cut from the trimmings.
  7. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg yolk and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the lid is well risen and deep golden and the filling is piping hot in the center; if the edges brown too fast, cover them loosely with foil. Serve straight away with mashed potatoes and peas or carrots. Finally, remember to download our App with exclusive content and fewer ads!

Variations and Alternatives

Many Scottish butchers make steak and sausage pie: brown 4 to 6 pork sausages or a few slices of square Lorne sausage, cut them into chunks and stir them into the filling before the pastry goes on. A dash of brown ale or stout in the gravy is also common, and some families use shortcrust instead of puff pastry.

Tips

Choose a braising cut such as chuck, shin or skirt, with a little marbling: lean frying steak turns dry. Brown the meat in batches, without crowding the pan, for a deeper-colored gravy. The filling must be cold when the pastry goes on, or the lid will be soggy underneath. If you use block puff pastry, roll it out about 4 mm (1/8 inch) thick.

Storage

The cooked filling keeps in the fridge for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months (thaw it overnight in the fridge). Leftover baked pie keeps in the fridge for 2 days; reheat it in the oven until piping hot.

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