Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pies

Can I tell you a secret? My weakness is frozen dinners. I could eat a frozen dinner every day for breakfast (I even did that for about a month). Every meal could come out of my freezer, and I would be insanely happy. One frozen meal that I just cannot eat is the potpie. I remember eating them as a kid, and I'm pretty sure that I liked them. Nowadays though, the thought of eating a potpie makes me sick (I think I can blame this on my aversion to raw dough and how the pie crust always seems doughy; it's why I won't eat dumplings either). Luckily for the hubby, Jamie Oliver has a wonderful "almost" potpie.

I say almost because it only reminds me of those offensive frozen dishes. Jamie's British Beef and Onion Pie is everything that meat pie should be. Filled with yummy veg, high quality ground beef, and an assortment of fresh herbs and fun British condiments (hey Anne, guess what they started selling at my grocery store...yeah, Marmite). Thankfully my personal sous chef did not have class tonight so he was able to get all of the chopping done fairly quickly.

Just as an extra special tip, don't roll your pie crust too thin. Because of my aversion to doughy things, I rolled mine pretty thin (the recipe does say 1/8-inch which is pretty thin as it is). Needless to say my crust was more of soppy mess. It still tasted good though.

British Beef and Onion Pie
Recipe by Jamie Oliver

3 medium onions
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
Olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 lb good-quality ground beef
1 tsp English mustard
1 tsp Marmite
1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1 qt beef broth
2 x 9-inch pie crusts
1 large egg, beaten or a splash of milk

1. For the filling: Peel and roughly chop your onions, carrots, and celery. Remove the rosemary leaves from the stalks and chop finely. Place a large casserole-type pan on high heat. Add 2 lugs of olive oil, all the veg, the rosemary, and the bay leaves. Stirevery minute for around 10 minutes or until the veggies have softened and lightly colored. Stir in the ground beef, breaking up any large chunks with a wooden spoon. Brown. Add the mustard, Marmite, Worcestershire sauce, and 2 tsps of flour. Add the beef broth and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer with the lid slightly askew for about an hour, stirring every now and then to stop it from catching.
2. To make the pie: Fill a large baking dish with the beef filling and allow it to cool down. Remove the pastry from the fridge 10 minutes before you need to roll it out. Preheat the oevn to 350F. Dust a clean work surface and your rolling pin with some flour and lay the pie crustsone on top of the other, then fold in half and roll out the pastry to 1/8-inch thick. Once it's large enough to cover your serving dish easily, wind the pastry around the rolling pin and unroll it over the dish. Run a knife around the edge of the dish to trim off any excess pastry. Using a fork, press down around the edge of the pastry to "crimp" it. Make a hole in the middle of the pastry using the tip of a knife. Brush the top of the pastry with beaten egg or a little milk. Bake on the bottom shelf of the preheated oven for 40 minutes or until the pastry if golden and crisp.

Thank you, Anne, for the Marmite!