A great British dish. Some boiled potatoes on the side and you have a hearty, satisfying family meal.

Ingredients - serves 4

800g steak & kidney
1 large onion, chopped
2 tbsp plain flour
30g butter
1 tbsp olive oil
125g button mushrooms
2 bay leaves, sprig of thyme
1 tbsp tomato purée
1-2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
500ml light ale or beef stock
salt, pepper
1 tbsp chopped parsley

225g plain flour
55g lard
55g butter
1 tsp salt
1 egg

Method

1 Make shortcrust by processing flour, lard, butter and salt briefly, add the egg and process to a dough, stop immediately. Wrap with cling film and refrigerate.

2 In a large pan, melt the butter together with the olive oil and fry off the chopped onion for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until coated in butter, now remove all with a slotted spoon and set aside. Toss the steak & kidney in seasoned flour to coat and add to the pan. Fry the meat over a high heat to brown all over (as best you can, the pan is filling rather) pour in the beer or stock, scraping around the base of the pan to incorporate flour and meat colour into the sauce and then return the onion and mushrooms to the pot. Add bay and thyme, tomato purée and Worcestershire sauce and simmer over a low heat, with lid on, for 1 1/2 hour to tender. Allow to cool. Fold in the parsley.

3 Preheat the oven to 190°C
Fill a pie dish with the the beef and ale stew. Top with shortcrust lid, sealing well at the edges and making a central hole for steam to escape then bake for 30-35 minutes until the crust is golden. Serve with boiled potatoes or salad.