Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Deep pie dish, about 1.5 litres
• •Rolling pin
• •Large mixing bowl
• •Baking tray (to catch any overflow)

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the suet pastry

   Put the flour, suet, and a good pinch of salt into a large bowl. Mix them together with your fingers until the suet is evenly distributed through the flour, like coarse breadcrumbs with purpose. Add the cold water gradually, stirring with a knife, until the dough comes together into something soft but not sticky. You may not need all the water, or you may need a splash more. The dough should feel pliable and slightly springy, willing to be rolled. Wrap it in cling film and let it rest for ten minutes while you prepare the filling.

   Suet pastry is the most forgiving pastry there is. Unlike shortcrust, you can handle it freely without worrying about overworking. It won't punish you for touching it. If it tears, press it back together. It forgives everything.
2. 2

   Prepare the filling

   Cut the braising steak into small dice, roughly a centimetre. Do the same with the potatoes. Dice the onion finely. Put everything into a bowl and season generously with salt and white pepper. Toss it together with your hands until the meat, potato, and onion are well mixed. The seasoning matters here more than anywhere. This filling has three ingredients and nowhere to hide, so be braver with the salt than you think you need to be. If you want to check, taste a small piece of the seasoned raw potato. It should taste properly seasoned on its own.

3. 3

   Line the dish and fill

   Set the oven to 200C (180C fan). Cut off roughly two thirds of the pastry and roll it out on a floured surface to about the thickness of a pound coin. Line a deep pie dish, about 1.5 litres, pressing the pastry gently into the corners and leaving a little overhang at the rim. Don't stretch it. Pastry that's been stretched will shrink back in the oven and leave you with gaps. Tip the filling in, pressing it down gently so it sits evenly with no air pockets. Pour the stock over the top. It should come about halfway up the filling, not cover it.

   The stock creates steam inside the pie as it bakes, which is what cooks the filling through and keeps everything moist. Without it, you'll get dry pockets of potato at the top and meat that tightens instead of softens.
4. 4

   Top and seal the pie

   Roll out the remaining pastry for the lid. Brush the rim of the pastry lining with a little beaten egg or water, then lay the lid over the top. Press the edges together firmly with your thumb and forefinger, or crimp with a fork if you prefer a neater finish. Trim any excess. Cut a small cross in the centre of the lid to let the steam find its way out. Brush the top with beaten egg for a deep gold, or milk for something softer. Either works.

5. 5

   Bake long and slow

   Put the pie on a baking tray and bake at 200C for twenty minutes until the pastry starts to take colour and firm up. Then turn the oven down to 160C (140C fan) and bake for another hour and a half. The crust should be a deep, confident gold, the kind of colour that makes you want to tap it with your knuckle, and the filling should be bubbling gently through the steam hole. If the top is browning too quickly, lay a sheet of foil loosely over it for the last half hour. When it's done, the kitchen will smell of pastry and beef stock and something you can't quite name but recognise immediately. Let it rest for ten minutes before cutting. The first slice is the cook's privilege.

   Trust your nose. It knows before you do. When the smell shifts from raw and floury to something rich and savoury and deeply comforting, you're close. Open the oven door and listen for the gentle bubble of the filling. That's your signal.

Chef Tips

• •The beef needs fat. Chuck or braising steak from a good butcher, something with marbling that will soften and render during the long bake. Lean stewing steak sounds sensible but dries out and turns to string. Ask your butcher for something with a bit of character. This is not the place to economise or to be afraid of fat.
• •Dice everything small and even. The potato and the beef should be roughly the same size so they cook at the same rate. Big chunks of potato surrounded by overcooked meat is the most common mistake, and it comes down to the knife work at the start. Take the extra five minutes. It pays you back.
• •White pepper, not black. It's a Lancashire tradition, but it also makes practical sense in a pale filling where black specks look out of place. White pepper has a different heat, quieter and rounder, and it belongs in this pie the way it belongs in a chip shop.
• •If you have beef dripping, use a tablespoon of it rubbed into the flour alongside the suet. It gives the pastry a deeper savour that you can't quite place but would miss if it weren't there. My notebook says, simply: dripping makes it right.

Advance Preparation

• •The pie can be assembled, covered with cling film, and refrigerated for up to a day before baking. Add ten minutes to the initial baking time if putting it in the oven from cold.
• •Leftover pie reheats well in a moderate oven (160C) for twenty minutes, covered loosely with foil to stop the crust from darkening further. The pastry won't be quite as crisp, but the filling improves overnight as the flavours settle into each other.
• •The filling can be prepared and seasoned several hours ahead. Keep it covered in the fridge until you're ready to roll the pastry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 310g)