Beef and corn pie (pastel de choclo)

This Argentinian-style shepherd’s pie contains a corn filling, a beef filling, and a slightly sweet pastry spiked with currants, pine nuts and cinnamon.

• serves

  8

• prep

  1 hour

• cook

  2:45 hours

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 450 g (3 cups) plain flour
• 200 ml warm milk
• 100 ml olive oil
• 20 g chopped butter, plus extra, to grease
• 3 hard-boiled eggs, thinly sliced
• 40 g (¼ cup) currants
• 50 g (⅓ cup) pine nuts, roasted (optional)
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon

Corn filling

• 6 corn cobs
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• ½ red capsicum, chopped
• ½ green capsicum, chopped
• 4 tomatoes, peeled, chopped
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 4 eggs lightly beaten

Beef filling

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 onions, finely chopped
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• ½ tsp ground chilli
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 500 g minced beef
• 1 tbsp dried oregano

Drink 2008 Argento Reserva Malbec ($24) or 2008 Zuccardi Serie A Malbec ($15)

Instructions

To make the pastry, combine the flour, milk and oil in a bowl with a wooden spoon. Knead the dough for 10 minutes or until smooth, then roll into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

To make the corn filling, slice the corn kernels from the cobs and process in a food processor to a purée. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 2 minutes or until soft. Add capsicums and cook for 2 minutes, then add tomatoes. Season with salt and add paprika. Cook for a further 5 minutes, then add the corn purée. Remove from heat, add the beaten eggs and stir to combine. Set aside to cool.

To make the beef filling, heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook for 5 minutes or until soft. Season with salt and pepper, add paprika, chilli and cumin, and stir until fragrant. Add beef and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, for 5 minutes or until browned. Stir in oregano, remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 220°C. Grease a 3.5 L ovenproof dish with butter. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface until large enough to line the base and the sides of your dish (about 3 mm thick), leaving 2 cm hanging over the rim.

Add the beef filling, then top with the boiled eggs, currants and pine nuts, if using. Spread over the corn filling and scatter over sugar and cinnamon. Using a fork, tuck the edges of the pastry around the filling. Scatter over the chopped butter and bake the pie for 45 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the pie filling has browned.

Stand for 15 minutes, then serve.

Photography by Anson Smart.

As seen in Feast magazine, Sept 2011, Issue 1. For more recipes and articles, pick up a copy of this month's Feast magazine or check out our great subscriptions offers here.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.