Damo’s Beef Cheek, Parmesan & Black Pepper Pie

Author: Dave Verheul — Embla
Servings: 8
Prep Time: 4hrs 
Cook Time: 115mins

A good one to start the night before!

INGREDIENTS

Parmesan pastry

375g plain flour
120g parmesan
250g cold unsalted butter
A good pinch of sea salt
80g cold water

Beef cheek braise

10g fresh cracked Pep black pepper!
50g cooking oil
5 beef cheeks
Plain flour for dusting
1 head of fennel, diced
1 onion, diced
5 garlic cloves sliced fine
100ml white wine
1L beef stock
2 bay leaves
8 thyme sprigs
100g green olives, pitted
40g plain flour
Splash of sherry vinegar
1 egg yolk
20ml milk

METHOD

1. For the pastry, place flour and salt into a medium-sized bowl, finely grating in the parmesan.

2. Dice the cold butter into small chunks and add to the bowl.

3. Working with clean dry hands, crumble the butter into the dry mix until it has a fine crumb consistency, don’t let the butter get warm or weird from your hands. Slowly mix in the cold water until the mix comes together.

4. Divide the dough into two, wrap in cling film and press into uniform 2cm flat squares — and chill.

5. For the braise, set your oven to 180C and heat a preferably cast-iron casserole over a med-high flame, adding cooking oil. Dust the beef cheeks on all sides with the flour and sear thoroughly on all sides. When you’ve browned them all, transfer the cheeks to a plate and pour out the shitty burnt oil, turn the flame to medium and add in some fresh oil.

6. Toss in your onion, fennel and garlic. Sweat these off without colour for about 5 minutes, turn the flame up to high and deglaze with the white wine. When the wine has reduced by half add in the cheeks and then pour in the beef stock.

7. Add the herbs, olives and a big pinch of salt and a healthy few cranks of Pep black pepper. Bring this all up to a simmer, cover it with a lid then move into the oven to cook for 2.5-3 hours.

8. When the cheeks are super tender, remove from the oven and leave to cool for at least 30 mins. Use a slotted spoon or spider to transfer the cheeks and veg solids into a bowl. Pick out any hard herb stems and crush the beef into large chunks using gloved hands.

9. Put the second amount of flour into a small bowl, add in a little of the braising liquid and mix to a smooth paste. Simmer the rest of the braising liquid over a high heat until it has reduced down by a third, add in the flour paste and whisk to combine. Cook this out for another 5-6 minutes until thickened, then add this to the bowl containing the cheeks. Move the chill in the fridge. When cold season well with salt and sherry vinegar, then add in the fresh ground Pep.

10. Before you dive into making the pie, pull the pastry out of the fridge to temper at room temp for 30 mins, and set the oven to 180C.

11. Take one of the pastry blocks and using flour roll it out to a large rectangle and transfer to a paper lined baking sheet. Scoop the beef mix onto the pastry base, spread an inch thick and make sure to leave about an inch free on all edges.

12. Make an egg wash with the yolk and milk then brush onto the pastry border. Roll the second sheet to the same size and lay on top, seal the edges, trim the excess then give it a cute rolled edge. Brush the egg wash all over and bake for 45 mins until golden brown. When it’s evenly browned and smelling delicious, pull it from the oven and leave to rest for 5-10 mins.

13. In this time make a simple leaf salad to serve alongside.