Welsh Wagyu Beef Pie with Monty’s Ale

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Happy St David’s Day!

Celebrating St David’s Day today with a luscious beef and ale pie, made from Ifor’s Welsh wagyu beef and Monty’s Ale from Montgomery in Powys. Melt in the mouth, fall apart beef, swathed in a thick and rich ale sauce and topped in light, crispy, golden puff pastry. Serve with your choice of potatoes and vegetables – we opted for Gratin Dauphinois and some roast carrots and sautéed kale.

St David’s Day is celebrated annually in Wales on 1st March. I can clearly remember going to school with a daffodil pinned to my cardigan in preparation for the school’s eisteddfod, or festival of poetry and music, to celebrate our patron saint.

Daffodils and leeks are both national emblems of Wales and the use of leek, goes back many hundreds of years. The 7th century King of Gwynedd, Cadwaladr, is said to have ordered his men into battle wearing leeks, which grew prolifically, for easy identification against the Saxon enemy.

The daffodil was introduced as a national emblem much later, in the 19th century in fact, as an alternative to the leek. I imagine it is because they grow in abundance around the time of St David’s Day, and are certainly prettier and smell an awful lot better!

Beef and Ale

Ifor’s Wagyu beef are reared in line with Japanese traditions, which includes receiving massages and an occasional alcoholic drink. Japanese Wagyu are served sake in the summer months; the cattle live in relatively cramped conditions and in heat and humidity, they can loose their appetite. The purpose of feeding the cattle sake, is to induce their appetite.

Ifor, on the other hand, likes to share some ale from the local brewery, Monty’s, with his cattle. Luckily for his Wagyu they are grass fed, they do not live in cramped conditions and Welsh weather is infrequently hot or humid. I imagine therefore, that this is a rare treat only!

Do I have to use Wagyu and Monty’s Ale?

Beef and ale are natural bed or pie fellows, and I have chosen to re-unite the Wagyu with their favourite beer for this pie. However, it is also delicious made with your beef and ale of choice! Just look at that luscious gravy and crisp and golden pastry. See below for instructions!

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How to make Welsh Wagyu Beef Pie with Monty’s Ale

Collect all your ingredients together:

• vegetable or ground nut oil
• braising steak cut into 4 -5 cm (1½ – 2 inch) chunks
• unsalted butter
• onion, thinly sliced
• plain/all-purpose flour
• ale (or beef stock)
• fine salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• beef broth/stock
• Worcestershire sauce
• sprigs of thyme
• bay leaves
• sugar
• chilled pre-rolled puff pastry
• A little beaten egg for brushing

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Start by making the beef filling:

1. Heat half the the oil in a pan over a moderate to high heat and add half the beef. Brown on all sides, remove from the pan and repeat with the remaining oil and beef, also removing from the pan when browned.
2. Add the butter and the peeled, chopped onions to the pan and cook for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time, until soft and lightly caramelised. It is important to cook the onions for at least 10 minutes, because as they soften and caramelise, they sweeten. Ale can be quite bitter, so you need the added sweetness to counteract the bitterness.
3. Add the flour and mix thoroughly with the onions. Cook over a moderate heat, stirring continuously, for 2 minutes.
4. Add the ale, bring to a simmer, stirring, and cook until thickened.
5. Add the beef back to the pan, season with salt and pepper, add the stock, Worcestershire sauce, bay, thyme and sugar. Add a little bit of sugar to start with, mix well, taste and adjust the amount, if necessary. It will vary both according to the ale you use, the sweetness of the onions and your own personal taste.
6. Mix well, bring to a gentle simmer, cover and cook slowly for 2 – 2½ hours, or until the beef is tender and falling apart. Stir from time to time.
7. It is likely that you will have too much sauce/gravy. Scoop the gravy out into a separate saucepan and bring to a vigorous simmer to reduce and thicken. Do not do this in the pan with the beef, as cooking on a high heat may toughen the meat, which should be very soft and falling apart. Transfer to a pie dish and leave to cool, before adding the pastry.

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When completely cool, top with pastry:

1. Use the pie dish as a stencil to cut out the pastry. If the pastry is not quite the right size, as you can see here, patch some pastry on from the remaining pastry, to create the correct shape. You won’t notice when it is cooked!
2. Cut out 1 cm strips from the remaining pastry and keep all scraps.
3. Wet the edges of the pie plate with water and use the 1 cm strips of pastry to cover the rim.
4. Add the pastry top and seal the edges with your knuckle or a fork.
5. Trim the edges with a knife and then brush the pastry with egg wash.
6. Use remaining pastry scraps to decorate the pie. Brush these with egg wash also.
7. Make 4 small slices in the pastry before cooking. Cook in the centre of a preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until everything is piping hot and the pastry has risen and is golden brown.

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Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.