Horn to Heel Pie

Try this tasty Horn to Heel pie recipe – a British Pie Week Finalist recipe. Made with Jus-Rol shortcrust pastry and served with spring cabbage and chips.

Quick Stats

Difficult

5 Servings

20 minutes bake time

Horn to Heel Pie

Try this tasty Horn to Heel pie recipe – a British Pie Week Finalist recipe. Made with Jus-Rol shortcrust pastry and served with spring cabbage and chips.

Ingredients

500 g Jus-Rol™ shortcrust pastry
3 sheets Jus-Rol™ Filo Pastry
Vegetable oil
water
2 lb diced chuck steak
1 cow heel
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 large carrots, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/2 stick celery, sliced (optional)
Gravy granules for thickening
Beaten egg for glazing
Salt and pepper

For the gravy

1 large onion – finely diced
125 ml Thwaites Bomber Ale (or other real ale of your choice)

Made With

Chilled Shortcrust Pastry Sheet

Easy to use ready rolled Jus-Rol Shortcrust Pastry Sheets are great for topping, wrapping or filling with your favourite ingredients!

Suitable for home-freezing!

Equipment required

Ovenproof dish
Pastry Brush

Techniques Used

How to Roll Shortcrust Pastry
How to Roll Shortcrust Pastry
1. For best results when rolling out shortcrust pastry use a large, clean dry area of the work surface and lightly dust it with plain flour.
2. Place pastry dough on surface and lightly dust it and the rolling pin with flour.
3. Roll pastry firmly, always rolling away from you, give the dough 2-3 rolls.
4. Then turn the dough a quarter turn.
5. Dust again if necessary and continue rolling out, frequently turning the pastry so it is not always rolled in the same direction as this causes shrinkage.
6. When the pastry has increased in size, pick it up to turn/ line the tin by rolling it round the rolling pin.
7. Lift the pin with the pastry around it carefully and turn it to lay out and continue rolling. Again this is done to prevent the pastry from stretching as you lift it which in turn would result in shrinkage in baking. Shortcrust pastry should be rolled out to approx. 3-5 mm. depth.
How to Make a Cornish Pasty
How to Make a Cornish Pasty
Divide the block of Shortcrust pastry into six even pieces, roll out each, as described in the ‘Best results for Rolling out Shortcrust Pastry’ pages, large enough to cut out a 17.5 cm/7″ disc. ( Use a plate as a template for this)
- Lay some thinly sliced potato across centre of one pastry disc.
  
  Top with diced onion, carrot and/or swede.
  
  Top with diced steak and season with salt and black pepper.
  
  Top the meat with further slices of potato to keep in the moisture.
  
  Brush pastry lightly with beaten egg and bring up sides to meet over the filling.
  
  Press edges firmly together to seal.
  
  With a sharp knife knock up edges to complete sealing process.
  
  Turn pasty at right angles to you and crimp the knocked up edge using your thumb and forefinger of you left hand and the forefinger of the right hand.
  
  Brush with beaten egg and repeat with all remaining ingredients.
  
  Bake for 15 minutes then reduce the oven temperature by 20º and continue cooking for further 20-25 minutes.

Method

Preparing the pie filling:

Place the diced chuck steak, onion and cow heel in a heavy based pan with a touch of oil. Brown off the meat for a couple of minutes then cover with water and bring to the boil.
Simmer for about 2 hours until meat is tender. Add the carrots, celery and garlic to the mix an hour before the end.
When the meat is tender, remove the cow heel bones and the meat with the aid of a strainer or spider, keep meat to one side and discard bones. Remove approx 125ml of stock and reserve for later, then boil the remaining stock until it has reduced by about one third.
Return meat to stock and thicken with gravy granules. Portion the mix equally into 5 pie dishes and allow to cool.

Whilst the filling is cooling prepare the Filo Horns:

Cut the Jus-Rol Filo sheets into 6-7 inch squares, brush with melted butter and fold in half to form rectangles. Brush one rectangle lightly with melted butter and fold into a triangular shape.
Brush a cream horn tin with butter and wrap the pastry around the tin to form a cone shape. Repeat with remaining pastry to give 5 horns.
Place on a lined baking sheet and bake at 190⁰C (170⁰C for fan assisted oven), Gas Mark 5 until golden brown. Allow to cool before removing from the tins. Once baked raise oven temperature to 200⁰C (180⁰C for fan assisted oven), Gas Mark 6.

Baking the pies:

Roll out the Jus-Rol Shortcrust Pastry and place over the pie dishes, not forgetting to press the pastry down into the rim of the dish (this will help seal the pie). Egg wash the pastry and prick with a knife in the centre of the pie to allow steam to exit the pie whilst cooking.
Place in the preheated oven and cook for 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

Bomber Gravy Reduction:

Add finely diced onions into a pan and sweat off.
Add the 125ml cow heel stock reserved from earlier and the 125ml of Bomber Ale and reduce by half. Thicken with gravy granules.

To construct the pie:

Remove the pies from the oven and place on main course plates. Carefully insert a filo horn into the side of the pies and pour the bomber gravy into them when serving.
Serve with seasonal spring cabbage and chunky chips.