Full Pastry Steak & Ale Pie

What is it?

Beef steak sits in an ale gravy and it's all wrapped in pastry, top and bottom, so the filling stays enclosed as it bakes. Sold as a frozen pie from Charlie Bigham's, it uses a full pastry case rather than a lid-only format, which puts it closer to a proper hand-held pie than a shallow-topped casserole. Inside, you get diced beef, gravy and ale, with the pastry acting as the main structure as well as the shell. Compared with other pies in the brand's range, this one is about the full enclosure, not a pie with an open centre.