Makes around 10 pies

Ingredients

  • Shoulder of Fallow venison – diced
  • Pinch of salt and pepper
  • A knob of butter for frying the chunks
  • Readymade suet pastry – for the top
  • Readymade shortcrust pastry – for the base
  • Baby onions – diced
  • Carrots – diced
  • Smokey bacon – diced
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • Sprig of rosemary
  • Tomato puree (enough to cover the veg)
  • 1/2 pint of veal stock
  • Pint of stout
  • 1 egg

Method

  1. Dice the venison and season with salt and pepper
  2. Fry until golden brown and set aside to cool
  3. Using the same pan, fry the baby onions, carrots, smokey bacon, garlic cloves and a sprig of rosemary together
  4. Add enough tomato puree to cover the veg and simmer the mix down for 5 mins
  5. Add all the aromatic mixture to the cooled meat
  6. Deglaze your pan with about a pint of stout, then add this to the meat mixture
  7. Add ½ a pint of veal stock
  8. Cover the mix with foil and bake on a low heat for 3 hrs
  9. Chill the pie filling down before you fill the pies
  10. For the pie casing; roll out shortcrust pastry for the base and line each pie dish
  11. Fill with meat filling
  12. Top with rolled out suet pastry
  13. Crimp the overlapping base onto the top
  14. Egg wash the top of each pie
  15. Vent each pie with a hole
  16. Bake in a hot oven until the pastry is a golden brown