Tonight is the big premier league game between Manchester United & Manchester City – it’s a potential title decider. Tensions are running high. I can feel the electricity running through my husband’s head so I decided to bake a good old steak, mushroom and Guinness pie to make him happy! It’s the perfect football meal, served with a potato salad. Win, lose or draw, this dish won’t let him down!

Ingredients (for eight slices)

800 grs steak trimmed and cubed 3cm
1 large onion (chopped)
2 garlic cloves (chopped)
1 chopped carrot (chopped)
1 bay leaf
A dash of thyme
200 grs coarsely chopped large white mushrooms pre-fried in 15 grs butter
400 ml beef stock
200 ml Guinness beer
40 grs flour
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 egg yolk for glazing pastry

Pastry

2 X 230 grs puff pastry ready-rolled sheet

Pre-heat oven 180° celsius

In a large pan, brown the cubed steak for 5 minutes or until brown on all sides, add the flour and stir well. In another pan, fry the onion and garlic until golden, then add the chopped carrots, thyme and bay leaf for 10 minutes on a low heat. Deglaze with the Guinness beer and Worcestershire sauce and reduce till it becomes thick and glossy. Add to the big beef pan, add the beef stock on cook on a low-heat for 2 hours. Add the pre-fried (in butter) mushrooms 15 minutes before the end. It’s very important to let the beef cool down before pouring in the pastry.

Roll out the pastry and line your pastry dish. Pour the beef mixture (make sure it’s cool) in the pie dish. Cover with your second pastry disc and seal together by pressing firmly on the side of the dish with your thumbs. Cut off excess pastry dough and re-roll to create 8 leaves to decorate the pie (8 is my lucky number). You can use a knife and cut out leaf-shaped figures and using the tip of the knife, draw the lines of a leaf. Finally, brush the pie with the egg yolk to give it a nice golden hue in the oven. One last thing, take a stick and prick the centre of your pie – so your pie won’t puff up from the middle.

Cook approx 30 minutes – it’s always good to check during the last five minutes – all ovens have different strength.