Merthyr pie

Ingredients

  • 1kg beef

  • 2 carrots

  • 1 onion

  • 2 celery sticks

  • 1 garlic bulb

  • 3 bay leaves

  • 1 thyme sprig

  • 150g beef stock (comes from slow-cooking the beef)

  • 8 slices of thick sourdough

  • 3-4 tbsp Dijon mustard

  • 150g grated cheddar

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 140°C.

  2. Add the beef, carrots, onion, celery, garlic, bay leaves and thyme to a lidded casserole dish. fill the casserole dish with water until its filled by 2/3.

  3. Cook for 5 hours until the beef is tender. remove the beef and veg and boil liquid until reduced by 2/3.

  4. Fry bread in the beef stock (150ml) until golden.

  5. Spread the fried bread with the mustard.

  6. Pull the beef apart with meat claws and chop the veg. Then push the garlic out the skin.

  7. Add layers into the pan in this order: Bread, cheese, beef, veg and seasoning. Then repeat and finish with a final layer of bread.

  8. Gently pour over 200-250ml of the reserved stock and bake for 10-15 minutes until the cheese is bubbling. Leave to stand for 5 minutes.