Beef skirt steak pie

Skirt is the traditional cut for British steak pies and Cornish pasties. Braised slowly, it turns rich and tender and makes its own gravy. Whole-grain einkorn pastry is short and fragile, so an egg binds this crust and it's well chilled before rolling.

• Serves 6, 23 cm (9 in) deep pie dish
• Active 1 hour
• Total about 5 hours, including cooling the filling

Filling

• 1 kg beef skirt, trimmed and cut into 2.5 cm pieces across the grain
• 25 g fresh-milled whole einkorn flour, for dredging
• 3 tbsp beef dripping or oil
• 2 onions, sliced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 200 g chestnut mushrooms, quartered (optional)
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 330 ml dark ale or stout
• 300 ml beef stock
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 4 thyme sprigs and 2 bay leaves
• Salt and plenty of black pepper

Einkorn shortcrust

• 450 g fresh-milled whole einkorn flour, sifted if you like (see notes)
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 250 g cold butter, cubed
• 1 egg and 1 egg yolk, beaten together
• 50–70 g ice-cold water
• 1 beaten egg, to glaze

Method

Braise the skirt

1. Heat the oven to 160 °C (325 °F). Season the beef and toss it in the einkorn flour.
2. In a large casserole, brown the beef in batches in the dripping over high heat, without crowding the pan. Set the browned beef aside.
3. Lower the heat and cook the onions, carrots and mushrooms for 10 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and tomato paste for 2 minutes.
4. Pour in the ale and scrape up the browned bits. Return the beef, then add the stock, Worcestershire sauce and herbs. Bring to a simmer, cover, and transfer to the oven.
5. Braise for 2–2½ hours, until the beef breaks apart easily. The gravy should be thick enough to coat a spoon. If it isn't, reduce it on the hob with the lid off.
6. Taste, season, remove the herbs, and cool the filling completely, ideally overnight in the fridge. Hot filling melts the butter in the pastry and gives a soggy base.

Make the pastry

1. Mix the flour and salt. Rub in the butter with your fingertips, or pulse in a food processor, until it looks like breadcrumbs with a few pea-sized lumps left.
2. Add the egg mixture and 50 g of the water. Mix with a knife until the dough clumps, adding the rest of the water a little at a time only if it stays crumbly. Einkorn needs less water than wheat pastry.
3. Press the dough together without kneading. Divide it into two-thirds and one-third, flatten each into a disc, wrap them, and chill for at least 1 hour. This lets the bran soften and firms the butter, which makes rolling far easier.

Assemble and bake

1. Heat the oven to 200 °C (400 °F) with a baking tray inside. Grease the pie dish.
2. Roll the larger disc between two sheets of parchment to 4 mm thick. Peel off the top sheet, flip the pastry into the dish, then peel off the second sheet. Patch any tears by pressing in scraps. Einkorn pastry mends easily.
3. Spoon in the cold filling. Brush the pastry rim with egg. Roll out the smaller disc, lay it over the top, trim, and crimp the edges. Cut a steam hole and brush the lid with egg.
4. Bake on the hot tray for 40–45 minutes, until deep golden and bubbling at the vent. Rest for 15 minutes before serving.