Beef Bourguignon Pot Pie Recipe

With its ultra-tender chunks of beef and thick, wine-rich broth, beef Bourguignon is one among my all-time favourite dishes. Every winter, meaty braises prefer it are staples in my family. Whereas they require a number of hours of mild simmering on the range, these meals are comparatively hands-off and produce sufficient meals to feed my associate and me for a number of days. Braised meat can be splendidly versatile: You possibly can serve it with potatoes, polenta, or no matter grain your coronary heart wishes. And for those who’re pondering one step forward, you possibly can flip no matter stew you are making right into a pot pie. 

The concept got here to me a number of years again after I had an enormous pot of beef Bourguignon simmering on the range. My boyfriend walked in and introduced that he was craving a meat pie full of a hearty steak-and-ale filling—the sort he grew up consuming in southwest England. At first, I used to be aggravated. Could not he see I used to be making a scrumptious French meal for him? However then I noticed how straightforward it would be to show the stew right into a pot pie. I dug out a sheet of puff pastry from the depths of my freezer and let it thaw. As soon as the stew was performed, I transferred it to a forged iron skillet, laid the pastry on high, and positioned it in a sizzling oven. When it emerged piping sizzling with a golden, crispy crust, we knew we had been in for a deal with. 

These days, that is one thing we serve after we need to impress friends on a chilly winter’s night time. It is wealthy, meaty, and exceptionally comforting. Plus, what does not style higher beneath a lid of buttery, flaky pastry?

Beef Chuck Makes for the Tenderest Chew

For my pot pie, I’ve taken loads of cues from Severe Eats editorial director Daniel’s beef Bourguignon recipe. The strategy is similar to that of different beef stews: You brown the meat, add aromatics, deglaze with wine and broth, then let all of it simmer till the meat is tender. Like Daniel, I desire to make use of a boneless chuck roll, a collagen-rich reduce with loads of fats. “Meat that has plenty of collagen in it begins off robust as heck,” Daniel writes in his recipe. “However, because it cooks, it very slowly transforms into meltingly mushy and moist gelatin. It is that gelatin that makes the meat nonetheless appear moist even after the muscle fibers have inevitably dried out from lengthy cooking.”

Getting the Texture of the Sauce Proper

Pot pies usually have a really thick sauce that makes for neat serving and helps stop the crust from turning soggy too rapidly. Fortunately, beef Bourguignon is already a thick, hearty stew. Whereas some recipes depend on cornstarch—and even gelatin, which Daniel makes use of in his model—to realize this texture, I’ve opted to stay with flour, essentially the most conventional thickener. As soon as the onions and carrots are tender, I stir to coat them in flour, then deglaze with a mix of purple wine, broth, soy sauce, and fish sauce (extra on the final two beneath). Whereas flour is efficient at including physique to broths and soups, utilizing an excessive amount of may end up in a stew with a muted taste. Simply two tablespoons is all it’s good to thicken the sauce, because the broth will scale back barely and thicken additional because it cooks within the oven.

Three Substances for Additional Umami

Three key elements guarantee this stew is tremendous savory and full of umami: tomato paste, soy sauce, and a small sprint of fish sauce. Tomato paste is a traditional addition to beef Bourguignon, contributing candy, acidic, and savory notes. Soy sauce and fish sauce—two elements which can be additionally in Daniel’s unique recipe—may seem to be surprising additions, however they add much more umami, additional enhancing the stew’s depth of taste—you will not style them, however they do lots of work.

For the Finest Taste and Texture, Add Your Mushrooms on the Finish

In most iterations of beef Bourguignon, sautéed mushrooms are added on the very finish, simply earlier than serving. If added earlier, they take in the broth’s taste and lose their distinct mushroom-y style. I observe Daniel’s lead once more right here, first frying some bacon lardons in a forged iron skillet (the identical pan you propose to bake the pot pie in), then sautéing the mushrooms within the rendered fats, and at last including them in direction of the tip of cooking to protect their recent, woodsy taste.

You may discover that half the carrots are finely diced and the opposite half are reduce into 1/4-inch rounds. I sauté these bigger carrot items, then add them to the stew after it is simmered for an hour and a half to 2 hours. By then, the finely diced carrots added earlier could have principally disappeared into the stew, and the addition of recent carrots at this stage supplies extra selection in taste and texture.

Sure, Retailer-Purchased Puff Pastry Is Wonderful

To present the pie a flaky, golden lid, I switch the stew from the Dutch oven to a skillet, then high it off with a single layer of puff pastry. Whereas most pot pies have each a high and a backside crust, I discover this model with simply the highest crust way more foolproof—no want to fret about soggy bottoms. Plus, the puff pastry is so wealthy and buttery that one crust is greater than sufficient. I extremely suggest going the store-bought route right here, because the dish is already time-consuming. My solely recommendation is to search for a product made with actual butter, which could have the very best taste. (Dufour is one model the Severe Eats workforce recommends.) 

If I discover myself with additional time, as an alternative of utilizing store-bought puff pastry, I end my pot pie off with a layer of home made tough puff pastry. In both case, I really like how the underside of the pastry absorbs among the thick, gravy-like broth whereas the highest bakes up crisp and flaky. 

I am not going to faux {that a} beef Bourguignon pot pie is a fast or informal weeknight dinner. The recipe is not overly difficult, but it surely does take sufficient effort and time that I have a tendency to reserve it for particular events. Final 12 months, I served it for Christmas dinner. It was the proper vacation meal, all rolled right into a single dish: tender cubes of meat with built-in gravy, hearty greens, and crispy pastry to take in the sauce.