Recipe: A hug on a plate

John Richold executive head chef of Banyan York, is getting all cuddly for Christmas

Santa would definitely get stuck up the chimney if he ate too many of our gourmet steak and ale pies before setting off on his travels this Christmas. At the very least, he’d need to loosen the buckle on his belt a notch or two.

These festive favourites are a warming winter treat, like a great big hug on a plate, made with the finest steak, slowly braised with seasonal root vegetables in a rich ale gravy, served with sautéed green beans and chunky chips with extra gravy for dunking.

Extra gravy! It’s like all your Christmases have come at once.

Steak and ale pie

For the perfect pie, you’ll need:

900g diced steak
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pint beef stock
½ pint of your favourite ale
2 onions, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 stick of celery, chopped
1 leek, chopped
Sprig of thyme
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic
½ pint water
500g ready to roll puff pastry
Seasoning

Method
Heat a little olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add the steak and brown on all sides.

Add the crushed garlic and chopped thyme and mix well. Add the carrots, celery, leek and onions. Pour in the ale and reduce.

When your mixture is bubbling away, top up with beef stock and simmer for 40 minutes.

Add the potatoes and simmer for another 40 minutes.

Transfer your filling to a pie dish and carefully cover with pastry, pressing down the edges and trimming the excess. Score the middle of the pastry to allow the steam to escape.

Bake for about 40 minutes until golden and delicious. Serve with parmesan mash and greens or chunky chips to mop up that scrumptious gravy.

Loosen your belt and relax.

• Banyan Bar & Kitchen on Little Stonegate serves food from 11am to 10pm
• John Richold is executive chef at Arc Inspirations, which runs a group of restaurants and bars in York, Leeds and Harrogate, including Banyan York
• Read all the Banyan recipes here