WHAT YOU NEED

Start by making the filling. Toss the beef in the flour and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat half the olive oil in a large heavy-based saucepan or flame-proof casserole dish. Then cook the beef in batches over medium–high heat for 5 minutes, or until browned all over. Remove to a bowl.

Pour the beer into the pan and give it a good stir to de-glaze the pan. Let the beer bubble away for 2 minutes to bring up all the goodness fromthe bottom of the pan. Pour the beery pan juices over the beef.

Heat the remaining olive oil in the pan, then sauté the onion, garlic, celery, carrot and bay leaves for 10 minutes, or until soft and fragrant. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for a further 2 minutes. Return the beef to the pan, along with all the beery juices. Pour in the stock and pop on the lid. Cook over low heat for 2 hours, or until the meat is very tender and the sauce is lovely and thick. Place the mixture in a bowl, cover and refrigerate until cool; overnight would even be better, to allow the flavours to develop.

When you’re ready to bake the pie, preheat the oven to 200°C and grease a 23cm pie dish. On alightly floured workbench, roll out half the pastry to about 5mm thick, then ease the pastry into the pie dish. Fill the pie with the chilled beef mixture. Roll out the remaining pastry to about 5mm thick, then carefully place it on top of the pie. Using your fingers or a fork, press the top and bottom pastry edges together to seal them. Trim the pastry edges, then prick the centre with a fork to let the steam escape.

Brush the top of the pie with the beaten egg mixture and bake for 35–40 minutes, or until the pastry is golden.