No, it’s not a genius hack! It’s just thriftiness – using leftovers from the Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks in Red Wine that I posted yesterday. This pie……what is there to say? It’s pure comfort food at its best because it takes just 15 minutes to put together to pop into the oven! The best pies are ones with slow cooked fillings so the meat is tender and juicy. So making this using leftover Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks in Red Wine is a classic way of making a pie. The sauce from the leftover beef cheeks forms the base of the gravy with the addition of crushed tomatoes and tomato paste (to thicken it up), and some dried herbs. Because this is a fast midweek meal fast version, it is made using frozen puff pastry. When it comes to store bought packaged foods, there’s a line that I never cross. Pasta sauces are on the other side of that line, as are things like canned soups and frozen meals. However, puff pastry is firmly on the “buy” side. I have never and will never attempt to make my own puff pastry. It’s incredibly time consuming and complex to get right so when it bakes, it puffs up with layer upon layer of delicate flaky pastry. This pie could also be topped with thin slices of potato, or with mashed potato like a shepherds pie. And you can substitute the vegetables with whatever you want. Just be sure to cut them to size so they will cook in the time the pie is in the oven. This is the second recipe in the Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks “One Recipe, Three Ways” series: 1. Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks in Red Wine 2. Beef Cheek, Mushroom and Vegetable Pie (this recipe) – using leftover beef cheeks and sauce, this is ready to pop in the oven in 15 minutes. 3. Beef Cheek Ragu Pasta (coming tomorrow) – made with shredded leftover beef cheeks and sauce. A rich, decadent pasta on the table in 15 minutes. Absolutely luscious. So this weekend, why not make up a batch of the Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks in Red Wine and use the leftovers for a fast midweek meals?
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