Beef Bourguignon Pie

Beef Burgundy: red wine gravy, vegetables and the tenderest beef chunks, silky mushrooms and a fluffy potato topping. When it comes to richness, the French really know their stuff. Nothing is richer, heartier and so full of flavour as this offering. The epitome of French slow-cooking, this complex dish is surprisingly easy to cook. Just pop it in the oven while you start hammering away at the wine. You can use any roasting beef (topside, round) with this but for an extra special dish, I prefer to use rump.

The perfect weekend surprise with friends or family. Works better with beef though. Oh, and a bottle of CabSav.

Ingredients

• Beef...
• 1 stick Butter
• 1kg Beef, trimmed, cut into 2-3cm pieces
• 1 Onion, large, roughly diced
• 2 Carrots, trimmed, unpeeled, roughly chopped
• 2 Tbsp Rosemary, chopped
• 100g Pancetta crumbs, or; 200g diced Bacon
• 6 Garlic cloves, crushed
• 200g Button Mushrooms, sliced
• 3 Tbsp Plain Flour
• 3 Tbsp Tomato Paste
• 1 cup (250ml) Red Wine
• 2 cups Bone Broth, or stock
• 3 Bay Leaves
• Topping...
• 1kg Potatoes, chopped
• 1/2 cup Double Cream
• 1.5 cups Cheddar, grated
• 0.25 cup Pecorino Romano, grated
• 100ml milk
• Finely chopped flat-leaf Parsley, to garnish

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Lightly season beef with salt and pepper.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp butter in a deep pan over medium-high heat. In batches, add beef and cook, turning, for 3-4 minutes until browned adding more butter as necessary. You can add a splash of wine to de-glaze the pan just before the end of each batch--to add a richness to the beef. Remove beef from pan and set aside.
3. Add remaining butter to the (now empty) pan, then add onion, carrot, rosemary, pancetta and garlic and cook, stirring, until the onion has softened. Add mushroom and cook for 2-3 minutes, then stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and cook for a further 1 minute.
4. Return beef to the pan with wine, bone broth and bay leaves. Make sure to de-glaze the with a spatula to get up all the bits on the bottom of the pan--we want those! Season (if necessary) and bring to the boil then transfer to a (lidded) casserole dish.
5. Cover and cook in the oven for 1 hour or until the meat is tender. Remove the lid and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Remove from oven and let rest, covered.
6. Meanwhile, place potato in a saucepan of cold, salted water and bring to a simmer over medium-high. Cook for 20 minutes until tender. Drain and pass through a ricer or mash until smooth. Stir through butter, cream, cheddar, parmesan, milk and season. Add more milk to get the right consistency.
7. Preheat the grill to medium-high.
8. Spread the mashed potato over the meat and use a fork to make a light indentation in the surface. Grill for 5 minutes or until golden. Garnish with parsley and serve.