Prep time 30 min 
Cooking time 5 hrs
Cooling time 2 hrs
Serves 4-6

Ingredients

20g butter
300g brown onions, finely diced
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1kg Borrello blade steak, diced (take out of fridge an hour before cooking)
1 cup hot water
3 flat tsp beef stock powder
2 tsp onion powder
100g tomato paste
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 handful parsley, chopped
salt and pepper
1 tbsp cornflour
25cm x 25cm all-butter shortcrust pastry, cold
25cm x 25cm all-butter puff pastry, cold
1 egg, whisked (egg wash)
4 serves green peas, to steam
4 serves tomato chutney

Method 

In a large non-stick frying pan fry onions and garlic in hot butter until onions become clear. Add the beef and quickly fry to seal in the flavours. Reduce heat and add water, beef stock and onion powder. Stir in tomato paste, balsamic vinegar and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat through for several minutes, then pour into the slow cooker. Set slow cooker onto high and cook for 4 hours with the lid on until meat becomes tender. Once tender, thicken the gravy by mixing cornflour in a glass with just enough cool water to stir into a paste. Tip into the slow cooker and stir through well. Put the lid back on and continue to cook on high for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius using the top and bottom element function. Tip the meat filling into a shallow dish with a cover and let it cool to room temperature. In the meantime, blind bake the shortcrust pastry base by gently draping and sitting cold shortcrust pastry into a round 23cm pie tin. Trim excess pastry from the edge with scissors. Pierce the base of the pastry a dozen times with a fork. Scrunch 2 large pieces of baking paper (big enough to overhang and protect the edges) then un-scrunch it and lay it into the baking tin crossed over each other. Put baking beads (or raw rice) onto the paper to weigh it down, especially around the edges.

Bake for about 8 minutes on the middle shelf. Take out of oven and remove beads and paper. Put back in the oven for 2 minutes or until half baked. Take it out of the oven and allow to cool. Use a cooling rack when cool enough to remove from the tin so the base doesn’t steam. Once cool, put it back in the tin and fill with the cooled meat. Fill it level with the tin or slightly raised but keep the filling off the shortcrust edge. Egg wash the edge of the shortcrust pastry then cover the pie with cold puff pastry.

Roll the edges of the puff pastry into the edges of the shortcrust pastry and press/pinch gently to seal. Cut a small cross into the middle of the pie as a vent. Egg wash the puff pastry then put in the oven for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the meat is hot inside. Rest for 5 minutes. Prepare the peas and serve with the meat pie.