Looking for a hearty meal that’ll win over the whole family? These gluten free braised beef pies are your answer!

Tender chunks of beef are slow-cooked to perfection with a blend of aromatic herbs, fresh vegetables, and a rich gravy. Nestled inside a flaky, gluten-free pastry, these savory pies offer all the comfort of a traditional meat pie but without the gluten

Serve them straight from the oven with a side of mashed potatoes and your favourite veggies.

Ingredients

The filling:

• 1 celery sticks, sliced
• 1 carrots diced
• 1 onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 500g diced beef
• Cracked black pepper
• 2 Bay leaves
• 1 Sprig rosemary
• 200ml passata
• 190ml water
• Cornflour and water

The pastry:

• 2 ½ cups (400g) Gluten Free Pastry Flour
• 2 1/2 tablespoons (100g) margarine
• 1 cup (250ml) water
• Extra flour for dusting

Method

The filling:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Saute your onions, carrots, and celery until cooked. Remove from pot and set aside.
2. For the next batch heat olive oil until hot and add beef to colour. When coloured add the onions, carrots, celery, water, Passata, rosemary and Bay and Salt and pepper. Place oven-safe pan in the oven at 160°C for 3 and a half hours or until tender.
3. Remove the liquid from the pan and heat in a separate pot. Thicken with cornflour and water until it is thick like mashed potato.
4. Mix through the meat and vegetable mix and leave to cool.

The pastry:

1. Preheat your oven to 200°C (fan forced)
2. In a large bowl combine margarine, water and Pastry flour. Mix by hand to form an elastic dough
3. Dust your bench, roll out the dough and lay across a flan or pie tin, then press to mould into shape.
4. For the pie lid, paint any areas of pastry that you would like to join with a light brush of water. This will help them to stick.
5. Place a hole in the top of your pie to reduce excess steam while cooking.
6. Paint the top of your pie with either water or egg before cooking.
7. For pies add filling, top and bake for 19-24 minutes

Tips

• I find it is best to make the pie filling the day before so that it is fully cooled when you go to bake your pie. This will reduce the amount of mixture overflowing.
• Use cold margarine straight from the fridge; it’s easier to work with and will result in a lighter and flakier crust.