Mary Berry’s beef pie is topped with crispy filo pastry and is incredibly easy to make yourself at home if you have the right ingredients. In her cookbook ‘Mary Makes It Easy’, the baker said: “A great dish for a gang – make it ahead and bake it to serve. You can replace the aubergine with courgettes, if preferred. Using filo pastry makes it a very easy topping.”
However, Mary Berry also has one unusual ingredient she adds to this pie recipe as she pours half a teaspoon of sugar into the pie filling along with tomato puree and chopped tomatoes. It may seem bizarre to add sweetness to a savoury dish but sugars help balance the acidity and tanginess of the tomatoes. Tomatoes can overshadow the other ingredients due to their sharp taste so sugar is needed to mellow them out so you can taste everything else in the pie.
Sugar not only helps the dish from having an overpowering and sour taste but also helps bring the richness out in the beef so it will have a much more enhanced flavour.
This is a simple yet hearty dish is perfect as a comfort food meal at this time of the year when the weather is still freezing outside.
How to make Mary Berry’s homemade beef pie
Ingredients (serves six)
- 400g of lean minced beef
- Three garlic cloves (grated)
- Two onions (diced)
- Two small aubergine
- One tub of full-fat cream cheese (280g)
- One tablespoon of tomato puree
- Two tins of chopped tomatoes (400g each)
- Half a teaspoon of sugar
- Four tablespoons of parsley
- One tablespoon of thyme
- Four tablespoons of sunflower oil
- Four large sheets of filo pastry
- 30g of butter (melted)
You will also need a frying pan, baking sheet and a round pie dish.
Instructions
To begin, preheat the oven to 200C (180C Fan or Gas Mark 6) and then line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
Pour two tablespoons of oil into a large frying pan over a medium heat. Then, add the onions and cook for three to four minutes.
Add the beef and cook over a high heat until brown. Use a wooden spoon to break up the minced meat as it cooks. Stir in two-thirds of the grated garlic and let it cook for 30 seconds.
Mix in the tomato puree, chopped tomatoes and sugar, then place a lid over the frying pan. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat and allow it to simmer for one hour.
While the beef filling is cooking, prepare the other ingredients by placing the aubergine slices on the baking sheet and then drizzle with two tablespoons of oil.
Place the aubergines in the oven and cook for 20 to 25 minutes until they are tender and lightly brown.
Add the cream cheese to a small bowl and mix it with the remaining garlic and half the parsley. Once the beef filling has cooked season it with the rest of the parsley and the thyme.
Spoon half the beef mixture into a round dish and then arrange the baked aubergine slices on top. Then spread the cream cheese mixture over the aubergines and top with the remaining mince.
Place the filo pastry on a clean kitchen counter and brush each sheet with melted butter. Then cut the pastry sheets in half so you have eight pieces.
Then, scrunch up the pastry sheets and arrange them on top of the pie.
Place in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the pastry is golden and crispy. Your delicious homemade beef pie will then be ready to serve as soon as it comes out the oven.
