Like many Irish recipes, the ingredients differ from chef to chef. While this is a simple recipe, others can include extra vegetables such as celery, along with Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves for extra dimension.
Serves eight.
- 1kg round steak, cut into 1cm cubes
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 85g lard
- 8 slices bacon, finely chopped
- 5 onions, minced
- 1 bottle Irish stout beer (such as Guinness)
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon raisins (Optional)
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 package double-crust pie pastry, thawed, divided
Preheat the oven to 165 degrees C. Cover steak cubes with flour.
Cook lard and bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until lard melts and bacon begins to sizzle.
Add floured steak and cook, stirring frequently, until steak and bacon are browned.
Transfer to a large casserole dish.
Add onions to the same skillet; cook and stir over medium heat until onions are lightly browned. Transfer to the casserole dish.
Stir stout, parsley, raisins, and brown sugar into the casserole dish. Cover the dish tightly with aluminium foil.
Bake, stirring occasionally, until gravy has thickened and steak is tender, about 2 1/2 hours.
Remove from the oven and increase the temperature to 200 degrees C.
Line a 23cm deep-dish pie plate with one pie pastry sheet.
Bake in the preheated oven until crust is partially cooked and lightly browned.
Spoon cooked steak filling into the partially baked pie crust. Cover steak filling with the remaining pie pastry, pinching the edges to seal tightly. Return to the oven and bake until top crust is golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.
