This week is National Pie Week, a great opportunity to celebrate one of Britain’s most loved foods. Whether it’s in the comfort of your own home or in your favourite pub, it’s hard to resist a pie that’s packed with succulent meat, fresh veg and rich gravy. Here at Keelham, we’re known for our award-winning pies and in our view, nothing tastes better than a freshly-made pie using the best local produce. Next week is also National Butcher’s Week, which puts locally-sourced meat in the spotlight, so we thought we’d share one of our favourite meat pie recipes - our signature Yorkshire steak, potato and Tipsy Pig ale pie.

Keelham’s Yorkshire steak, potato & tipsy pig ale pie

Makes 1 plate pie

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Pastry:

400g plain flour,

220g cubed butter (or an equal mix of butter and lard)

A pinch of salt

2-3 tbsp cold water

1 egg yolk for glazing

To make the pie filling:

400g diced Yorkshire braising beef

1 bottle Keelham Tipsy Pig Ale

350g peeled potatoes, cut into large cubes

1 sprig of thyme, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 onion, 1 finely diced

1 carrot, finely diced

1 celery stick, finely diced

Good quality gravy granules, 25g

A little oil for cooking

Salt & Pepper to season

Method

Pastry

1) Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean bowl

2) Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, working as quickly as possible to prevent the dough becoming warm

3) Add the water to the mixture and using a cold knife stir until the dough binds together; add more cold water a teaspoon at a time if the mixture is too dry.

4) Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill for a minimum of 15 minutes, up to 30 minutes.

Pie Filling

1) Heat the oil in a pan and add the onions, carrots and celery, and sweat off until soft.

2) Add the braising beef and cook for about 5 minutes until browned. Add to the pan the thyme, garlic and potatoes then pour in the Tipsy Pig ale and gravy, season with salt and pepper.

3) Leave this to cook on a medium heat for around 3 hours until the meat is tender and the gravy has thickened.

4) Check the seasoning, adding more if required. Let the mixture cool, ready to make your pie.

Put together your pie

1) Heat the oven to gas mark 4/180c/350f

2) Roll out the pastry to a thick-ish round that will easily line the pie dish with an overhang, then line the tin. Add the beef to the dish using a slotted spoon so some gravy is left in the container, as you don’t want too much sauce in the pie. You want the filling to be slightly higher than the rim of the dish.

3) Roll out the remaining pastry to a thick round, big enough to cover the dish. Brush the edges of the pastry in the dish with egg yolk, and then cover with the pastry lid. Trim the edges crimp the pastry and then brush the top heavily with egg. Make a few little slits in the centre of the pie, place on the hot baking tray, then bake for 40 mins until golden.

4) Serve with mashed potatoes, some nice steamed greens and the left-over gravy.