Beef in Guinness Pot Pie
In the interest of recipe development it is pie month in our house. I love pastry in any form, 
sweet and savory which got me thinking about crafting a series of pie fillings in my Instant Pot.
The Instant Pot or any Multi-Cooker is the perfect cooking modality for making a quick pie filling. I simply top it with a store bought crust and pop it into a hot oven to bake. Making the filling a day or two ahead and refrigerating it takes the pressure off for a weeknight supper.
A rare guilty pleasure, I favor a meat pie and one of my all time favorites is a beef in Guinness pot pie. This recipe I crafted just in time for St Patrick’s Day on March 17th, when it is typically still freezing cold in Chicago. I have fond memories of standing on the N Clark St bridge watching the annual custom of turning the Chicago river green. We then hurried home for a slow cooked beef in Guinness stew. That stew is transformed into a delicious pot pie, with sufficient gravy inside to mop up with buttery mash or potatoes.
Now that I live back across the pond in Bristol, it caused quite a stir this week when the news broke that Jon Thorner’s vegan pie was crowned the winner of the British Pie Awards. Filled with curried butternut squash and sweet potato, I developed my own in house for my vegetarian daughter using our Indian Dal Multi-Cooker spice blend. Come back next week for the recipe and next slice of pie.
Share your favorite pie with us and we will pick one to test.
Beef in Guinness Pot Pie
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp oil - split 2 tbsp / 1 tbsp
- 1 1/2 lbs / 700 g stewing / beef chuck steak
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 1/2 cups / 1 large onion small dice
- 1 cup / 2 medium carrots / large dice
- 1 tsp / 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 500 ml guinness
Pie Topping
- 1 sheet puff pastry
- 1 egg whisked for egg wash
Instructions
Pressure Cooker Method tested in an Instant Pot:
- toss the beef in flour
- heat 2 tbsp of the oil in Instant Pot on high sauté function
- add the beef and brown for 4 minutes
- remove beef to a plate
- add remaining 1 tbsp oil to Instant Pot
- sauté onion and carrot for 2 minutes to soften
- turn off sauté function
- stir in garlic, add the meat back to the pot
- stir in the thyme, oregano, bay leaves, salt, pepper, tomato paste, Guinness, making sure to scrape any bits which may be stuck to bottom of the insert
- secure Instant Pot lid & set pressure valve to Sealingcook on Manual / Pressure Cook for 35 minutes
- allow to natural pressure release for 10 minutes
- spoon the pie filling into a pie dish and top with ready rolled puff pastry
- brush with the egg wash
- cook in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit / 180 degrees celcius for 45 minutes
- serve with cabbage and leeks, new potatoes or mash
Slow Cooker Method tested in a 6 quart Crock Pot:
- toss the beef in flour
- heat 2 tbsp oil in a sauté pan
- add the beef and brown for 4 minutes
- remove the beef and put into the slow cooker
- add remaining 1 tbsp oil to sauté pan
- sauté onion and carrot for 2 minutes to soften, stir in the garlic
- transfer onion mixture to the slow cooker
- stir in the thyme, oregano, bay leaves, salt, pepper, tomato paste, Guinness,
- cover and cook on LOW for 7-8 hrs or HIGH for 3 hrs
- spoon the pie filling into a pie dish and top with ready rolled puff pastry
- brush with the egg wash
- cook in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit / 180 degrees celcius for 45 minutes
Notes
Zen Moment
“It could be argued that there is an element of entertainment in every pie, as every pie is inherently a surprise by virtue of its crust.”
― Pie: A Global History
