The only thing better than a hearty beef stew that has cooked itself in a slow cooker while you were at work is that same stew transformed into a flaky pastry-topped pot pie. The recipe below takes a classic slow cooker beef stew, with chunks of meat and lots of veggies, and tops it with a crust of buttery puff pastry.
Cooking the crust separately here is easy and it ensures that all those flaky layers stay nice and crisp. Instead of puff pastry, you could use refrigerator biscuits or even rounds of pie crust. If you want to get fancy, go ahead and fill a par-baked pie crust with this stew, top it with another round of crust, and bake until golden brown.
Slow Cooker Chunky Beef and Mushroom Pie
8
10 minutes
6 hours and 20 minutes
6 hours and 30 minutes
2 pounds chuck steak, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 celery stalks, diced
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, sliced
8 ounces button or cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
1 1/2 cups beef broth
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
Season the beef with salt and pepper and dredge in the flour. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the beef and cook, stirring frequently, until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes.
Transfer the beef to the slow cooker and add the onion, celery, carrot, mushrooms peas, broth, salt, pepper, tomato paste and bay leaves. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours.
Preheat the oven to 400 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Roll the puff pastry out to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into 3-inch squares and arrange them on the baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for about 15 minutes, until golden brown.
Serve the stew topped with the pastry squares.