Two Potato Beef and Vegetable Pot Pie – Good Life Eats

Feeling the chill in the autumn air? Warm up with this twist on a classic pot pie. The homemade rosemary potato biscuit crust and hearty filling of beef, potatoes, carrots and parsnips will leave you feeling nice and toasty. Recipe courtesy of Katie at Good Life Eats.

Servings: 6

Ingredients

  • Pot Pie Filling:
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 1/4 lb. stew beef, cut into bite sized pieces
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 large yellow onion, diced
  • 12 ounces sliced mushrooms
  • 1/3 cup red wine of red cooking wine
  • 4 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
  • 3 stalks celery, chopped
  • 2 parsnips, peeled and sliced into rounds
  • 2/3 cup  frozen of fresh shelled peas
  • 1-2 red potatoes, cut into bite sized cubes
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1-2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
  • 1/2-3/4 teaspoon finely minced fresh rosemary
  • For the Sauce:
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons flour
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 2 1/4 cup beef broth
  • For the Biscuits:
  • 1-2 baked russet potatoes
  • 2/3 cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup   all purpose flour or freshly ground spelt flour
  • 3/4 cup cake flour
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) very cold or frozen butter
  • 1-2 teaspoons very finely minced fresh rosemary

Instructions

For the Pot Pie Filling:

In a large cast iron skillet or pan, heat the olive oil. Add the beef, season with salt and pepper and cook over medium-high heat until it is browned on all sides. Remove and set aside on a plate.

Add onion to the pan, adding additional oil as necessary, and sauté until tender – about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté for an additional 5 minutes.

Return beef to the pan and add the red wine to deglaze, taking care to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan as they offer a lot of flavor. Cover and cook over low heat for 30-40 minutes, or until beef is tender (optional: use a pressure cooker on high pressure for 10 minutes).

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. In a medium saucepan, add the butter and melt. Whisk in the flour. Then whisk in the milk and broth. Bring to a boil and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Uncover and add the carrots, celery, potatoes and parsnips. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the peas. Stir in the sauce.

Pour ingredients into a large casserole dish and top with the uncooked biscuits. Bake in a 400 degree preheated oven for 35 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before serving

For the Biscuits:

Remove the flesh from the baked potatoes. Mash it with a fork or press it through a potato ricer. This will take 1 – 2 potatoes and should result in a total of 1/2 cup of potato. In a small mixing bowl, combine the 1/2 cup potato with the buttermilk. Whisk until smooth and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose or spelt flour, cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until well sifted. Cut the butter into the flour mixture either using two knives, a pastry blender, or a cheese grater. I prefer to use the cheese grater and grate frozen butter into the flour mixture. Add the rosemary and stir to combine.

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the buttermilk potato mixture. Stir until combined, and then when you can’t stir it anymore, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead until you can form a rough ball.

Flatten the dough into a circle about 1/2 – 3/4 inch in thickness. Using a biscuit cutter or a drinking glass (about 2 1/2 – 3″ in diameter for the listed baking time) turned upside down, cut as many rounds as you can. Using the dough scraps, form another circle of the same thickness.