A few months ago we spent a weekend in Berlin — an edgy, graffiti-covered city shaped by a turbulent past. The streets felt like a canvas for history, and the weather matched the city’s concrete, Soviets-era grey: cold, damp and relentless.
We wandered Kreuzberg for a morning and eventually reached the point where food was the only option. We ducked into a small café selling pies with mashed potato or salad; unsurprisingly, everyone chose the warm options. I avoided a gimmicky jerk-chicken deal (10% off if you sang the chorus of No Woman, No Cry — tempting if you wanted a discount, impossible for my dignity) and instead ordered a steak and Guinness pie. It arrived hot and restorative: rich beef in pastry that was crisp on top and just soft enough underneath. It felt like manna — comforting, honest, and perfectly unpretentious.
On the shelf behind the counter I noticed a familiar book, Dean Brettschneider’s Pie. Back home, I dug my copy out and set to work.
The essential element of any pie is the pastry. Without it, a pie is just a stew. Good pastry can be bought — commercial puff pastry is a reliable, excellent product and a foolproof freezer staple. Still, there’s something satisfying and elemental about making pastry from scratch, and producing high-quality puff pastry is achievable in a home kitchen.
How to make puff pastry
Puff pastry is a laminated dough: alternating layers of dough and butter, much like croissant dough but without yeast. The technique is simple — encase a block of butter in dough, then roll and fold repeatedly to create many thin layers.
To begin, combine 300g strong white bread flour with 50g butter rubbed into the flour, a pinch of salt, a squeeze of lemon juice and 150ml very cold water. Mix and knead a few minutes until smooth. For a variation used in this pie, add 15g smoked paprika and a tablespoon of black sesame seeds before adding the water for a subtly smoky, textured pastry.
Let the dough rest about ten minutes, then roll it to a 25cm square. For the butter block, take 225g cold butter and flatten it with a rolling pin into roughly a 17cm square. The butter should be similar in firmness to the dough so they work together while rolling.
Place the butter square in the center of the dough square at a diagonal so the butter forms a diamond inside the dough. Fold the four corners of dough over the butter to enclose it completely. You now have dough–butter–dough layers. Roll this packet into a rectangle about 1cm thick, then perform a simple “single” fold: fold one third over, then fold the other third over it, reducing the block to one third of its original size.
Chill the dough in the fridge for fifteen minutes, then repeat the roll-and-fold process. Do five turns in total, chilling between each. After the final turn, refrigerate until needed or freeze for later use. That’s puff pastry — flaky, layered and ready for your pie.
Hearty beef bourguignon pie
While pastry is crucial, a pie’s soul is its filling. For a robust beef bourguignon pie, start by heating oil and a knob of butter in a large frying pan. Brown 800g braising steak cut into 2.5cm chunks in batches until each piece develops a deep, savoury crust. Remove the browned meat and, in the same pan, sauté four slices of chopped bacon, a finely chopped onion and a finely chopped carrot in a little more butter until softened.
Return the beef and any juices to a pan, season well and add two tablespoons each of chopped rosemary and thyme, then two tablespoons of flour. Stir in a tablespoon of tomato purée, two tablespoons of brown sugar and a couple of bay leaves. Gradually add 400ml red wine, stirring until the sauce thickens, then cover and simmer on low for an hour.
After an hour, add five halved tomatoes and four crushed garlic cloves and cook for another thirty minutes, until the beef is tender and the sauce is richly flavored.
To assemble, roll out two-thirds of the chilled pastry to about 3mm thickness and line a 20cm pie dish or tin — a springform cake tin also works well. Roll the remaining third of pastry for the lid and chill everything for thirty minutes. Spoon the filling into the pastry case, place the lid on top and crimp to seal. Brush the surface with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Make a few small slits to allow steam to escape, then bake in a preheated 200°C oven for about thirty minutes, until the pastry is golden and crisp.
The result is a satisfying, warming pie: a flaky, flavorful crust encasing tender, wine-scented beef. Perfect for cold days and simple enough to become a regular favourite.