Beef and Guinness Pot Pie With Puff Pastry Shamrocks

In addition to St. Patrick’s Day, you can enjoy this hearty recipe anytime you need comfort food in a bowl, especially early spring when the weather turns on a dime, 70 degrees one day and then a surprise dusting of snow the next. Do yourself a favor and make this recipe ahead, freeze individual bowls so you can pull out individual servings to bake when the mood strikes.

Shamrock cookie cutters add some St. Paddy’s Day crust decorations to top your puff pastry crust, or if you’re feeling especially ambitious you can make a  Cheddar-Stout Crust.

I adapted a recipe for Beef Pot Pies, making a few changes and adding frozen sweet peas for an extra touch of green!

Here are the ingredients:

• 2 pounds beef chuck roast, trimmed of excess fat, cut into 1-inch pieces 
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup Guinness or stout beer, drink rest of bottle 
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth, reduced sodium
• 3 medium leeks, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 pound carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 stalks celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
• half of a 16 oz. bag of frozen sweet peas (no need to thaw)
• Frozen Puff Pastry (I used 1 & 1/2 boxes)
• 1 egg for egg wash

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

1. Season the beef with 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, and pepper to taste, toss in flour in a large bowl. Melt the butter in a Dutch oven or large ovenproof pot over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned all over, about 7 minutes.
2. Add the beer and beef stock, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Bring to a simmer, then cover, transfer to the oven and braise, 30 minutes.
3. Add the leeks, carrots and celery to the pot and continue braising, 1 more hour.

• Thaw puff pastry according to package directions.

• Remove the filling from the oven and increase the temperature to 375 degrees F. Season the filling with salt and pepper to taste, stir in frozen peas, and divide among 6 – 8 oven-proof ramekins / bowls (there may be some filling left over).

• Put ramekins/bowls on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Use your ramekin as a template to cut a circle of pastry 1/2-inch larger than the top. Brush the outside edges of each ramekin with the egg wash (egg beaten with a tablespoon of water) then place the dough on top. Place the dough, folding over the side, pressing it to make it stick. Add shamrock pastry cutouts to top of pies if desired, using egg wash to attach to top of pot pies. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper.

• Bake until the crust is crisp and golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Let rest about 10 minutes before serving. I baked two, and froze the rest of my pot pies (with the pastry on them), covering well.

• You can pull out your frozen pies on a week night when you’re too tired to cook and pop in the oven without thawing, they’ll take about an hour to bake. Watch your pastry tops and cover with foil to prevent overbrowning if necessary.

Find 17+ recipes with St. Patrick’s Day inspiration from the kitchen to the table to help you Eat, Drink and Be Irish,  HERE.