Smoked beef cheek pie

Smokey and delicious, this is special pie recipe

Serves

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

3 hrs 30 mins

Is there anything more comforting than a big hearty meat pie? Slow-cooked BBQ beef cheeks offer a delicious and indulgent take on a pie filling. The incredibly rich beefy flavour and soft gelatinous seams pair perfectly with vegetables and flaky puff pastry. It's perfect whether you're cooking up a mid-week feast or entertaining.

This recipe, from chef Andrew Clarke, will yield enough filling for 12 small or 2 large pies, and if you'd like you can use the leftovers as nacho topping!

Recipe courtesy of Greenlea Butcher Shop.

Andrew Clarke

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Ingredients

Beef

1Kg Quality Mark beef cheeksi
2 large onions
diced
5 garlic cloves
thinly sliced
1 celery stalk
finely sliced
1 carrots
diced
2 bay leaves
2 litres beef stocki
2 Tbsp fresh thyme
chopped
1 Tbsp brown sugar
130g white flour
100g butter
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp sherry vinegar
kosher salt
black pepper
cracked

To Assemble

1 kg puff pastry
pre rolled, enough for 12 small pies
3 eggs
yolks, beaten

For the BBQ

1 cup Manuka wood chip

Method

For the BBQ/Smoking

Trim any excess sinew from outside of beef cheeks (don’t be too fussy as it will break down during cooking) season heavily with salt and black pepper.

Smoke cheeks in a smoker or BBQ at 130⁰C for 1 hour.

Remove from smoker and place in boiling stock. Cover and simmer gently until tender, this will take around 2½ hours.

Stock may need topped up if it reduces too much.

To Make Filling

In a large saucepan, melt the butter and add onions, carrot, celery, bay leaves and thyme.

Cook over a medium heat stirring regularly for 10 minutes to allow flavours to develop.

Chop the cheek meat into 2-3cm chunks and add to the vegetable mix, sprinkle over the flour and stir.

Add 700ml of the hot braising liquid, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 20 minutes, being careful that the mixture doesn’t stick to the bottom.

Add the vinegar, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce, season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Allow mixture to cool.

To Assemble & Serve

Preheat oven to fan bake at 190⁰C.

Cut pastry into 6 x 16 cm diameter disks and 6 x 9cm disks.

Spray a large muffin tray with canola oil spray then line the tray with the larger pastry disks being careful not to stretch the pastry. Fill each pie with filling so it is comes just over the top of the tray.

Place one of the smaller pastry disks on each pie, pinch and fold the edges of the pastry all the way round each pie. Cut a small hole in the top of each one and brush with beaten egg yolk.

Place tray in oven for around 25-30 minutes, until golden brown, the time may vary depending on your oven.

Serve with buttery potato mash.

Feel free to add a couple of pieces of cheese to each pie when assembling them.