Braised Beef & Mulled Wine Festive Pasties

A festive take on the much-loved Cornish pasty. Instead of letting the filling cook inside the pastry, this recipe involves braising the beef in the most delicious mulled wine first. Don’t forget it is the chef’s perk to enjoy a glass of mulled wine while you make these handsome pies.

Makes 6

500g (1lb 2oz) rough puff pastry

1 free-range and/or organic egg, beaten

For the filling

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, finely diced

1 celery stick, finely diced

1 carrot, finely diced

200g (7oz) swede, cut into 1cm (1/2in) cubes

1kg (2lb 4oz) grass-fed braising beef, diced

4 tablespoons stoneground unbleached white flour, plus extra for dusting

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon freshly chopped rosemary

2 bay leaves

1/2 cinnamon stick

1 star anise

4 cloves

400ml (14fl oz) red wine

2 tablespoons redcurrant jelly

150g (5 1/2oz) cooked chestnuts, peeled and roughly chopped

pure sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large ovenproof casserole or saucepan. Add the onion, celery, carrot and swede and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes until starting to soften. While the veg is cooking, season the beef and toss it in the flour to coat. Remove the veg with a slotted spoon and set to one side. Now add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan and add the beef. Fry over a medium heat, stirring often, until nicely browned on all sides.

Add the vegetables back into the pan along with the garlic, rosemary, bay, cinnamon, star anise and cloves. Follow that with the red wine and redcurrant jelly. Use a wooden spoon to scrape and loosen any bits stuck to the base of the pan after browning the meat; it all adds flavour. Bring to a simmer and season with salt and pepper. Pop on a lid and slide it into the oven for 1. hours, or until the meat is tender and the sauce is thick and glossy.

When the beef is ready, pick out the bay leaves, cinnamon and star anise. Taste and tweak the seasoning to your liking. Stir in the chestnuts and leave it to cool completely.

When you are ready to go, preheat the oven to 180. Divide the dough and the beef filling into 6 equal portions. Dusta work surface with flour and roll out each ball of dough thinly. Use a plate (about 22cm/8 1/2in in diameter) to cut each one into a perfect circle. Place some of the braised beef on one half, leaving a 1cm (1/2 in) gap around the edge, and bring the other half over to make a semicircle. Crimp the edges together. If you want, you can use the pastry trimmings to fashion some festive decorations.

Repeat until you have completed all 6 pasties. Sit them on a baking tray and brush with beaten egg.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until golden brown and piping hot.

This recipe is from Piper’s Farm: The Sustainable Meat Cookbook by Abby Allen & Rachel Lovell.