If you are of a certain age, you probably ate lots of corned beef when you were growing up. Tinned or sliced, this mystery meat is salty and fatty, with a non-meat texture. For a food snob like me, I should avoid it like the plague, but I have very fond memories of corned beef and tomato ketchup sandwiches for packed lunch (or corned beef and cucumber which was the healthier option offered up by my mum!) … in fact I could eat one right now!
Jump to Recipe
A popular Welsh dish
I hadn’t been aware that corned beef was such a popular dish in Wales, featuring in many recipes but most popularly as corned beef pie, pasty or corned beef rissoles. You are looking at a combination of cheap ingredients combined to bulk out a dinner: corned beef, onions, potatoes and pastry. Don’t be put off though, the end result is truly delicious, and friends at my recent 40th birthday party were converted by the tastiness of the pie.
Make the corned beef pie your own
Lisa from Lovely Appetite recently posted her own version of a corned beef pie, which made me realise how different everyone’s version can be. I didn’t follow a recipe the first time I made mine – I developed it based on Andrew’s preferences and what I imagined would taste nice. That makes it different to the one we eat in Wales (from Cyril’s the butcher!) but in my view better!
A step by step guide to making corned beef pie
I make my own shortcrust pastry for the pie, but I am tempted to give this hot water crust pastry a go sometime as I think it would be delicious. I have also used Jusrol shortcrust if I am feeling lazy – you need a 500g slab to top and bottom a 21cm pie dish, which is what I happen to use (as it’s the only loose-bottomed dish I have).
400g plain flour to 200g butter mixed together with a little salt made more than enough pastry for my dish, so I froze the rest for a rainy day when cheese straws or something similar are needed.
While the pastry is resting in the fridge, you can make the filling by cubing a couple of medium sized potatoes (around 400g). I don’t bother peeling the potatoes as I am lazy, and just boil them in salted water until tender (around 10 minutes should do it, as each chunk is around the size of a sugar cube).
While the potatoes drain, gently fry a chopped onion in a little oil. I use the same pan as I used for the potatoes to save washing up.
Once the onion has softened, add the boiled potatoes back into the pan along with the cubed corned beef (maybe minus one cube that you’ve eaten), and give the mixture a stir. No salt or pepper is needed in my view, but feel free to season with pepper (corned beef is salted enough) if that’s to your taste.
For me (and Andrew) the most important thing is to make sure you don’t end up with a mushy filling – we like to see and eat distinct pieces of meat, potato and onion. Again, everyone is different, and Cyril the butcher mashes everything together … Andrew’s mum likes to add carrots. Go with what you prefer, but try my way first as it’s the best ;).
I lightly oil my pie dish and then lay pastry onto the bottom and sides. You should wait for your filling to go cold before adding it to the pastry dish, but usually I don’t bother – as long as you are quick then the pastry probably won’t melt, so be efficient.
A pie is not a pie without a top and bottom crust!
Add your pie filling, then top your pie with another disc of pastry. I don’t bother sealing the pastry with eggwash, water or milk, I just crimp it and bung the pie in the oven (if you do have some eggwash around then brush the top of the pie as it does look nicer with a lovely golden glaze, but it’s not essential).
I bake my pie at 190 degrees fan for around 45 minutes. You only need the pastry to cook as your filling is already cooked, but the last thing you need is a soggy bottom!
Serving suggestions for corned beef pie
Once baked, I often leave the pie to go cold and then remove it from the dish and slice it, but you could also serve the pie for Sunday lunch with green beans, warm. Either way, it is delicious.
Here’s the pie I made for Andrew to eat while watching the rugby, alongside some homemade sausage rolls.
Traditional welsh corned beef pie recipe
Corned beef pie
Tracy
This is a traditional and delicious Welsh classic, using humble but tasty ingredients.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 45 minutes mins
Course Main Course, Snack
Cuisine British, Welsh
Servings 6 generous slices
Equipment
1 deep pie dish or loose bottomed cake tin (21cm)
Ingredients
For the pastry (or feel free to use 500g slab shop bought shortcrust pastry
- 400 g plain flour
- 200 g butter
- 1 pinch salt
- cold water
For the filling
- 1 tin corned beef the one I buy is 340g
- 1 medium onion
- 1 large potato around 300g
- 1 tsp vegetable oil plus extra for greasing the dish
- 1 beaten egg to eggwash the pie (optional)
Instructions
If you are going to make your own pastry, do this first. Dice the butter and mix with the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Then add a small amount of ice cold water and mix until the pastry comes together. Form a ball, wrap in clingfilm, and pop in the fridge to rest.
Dice a large potato (I don't bother peeling it) into sugar cube sized chunks, and boil in salted water for 5 minutes until just tender.
Drain the potato in a sieve and then use the same saucepan to fry diced onion in a little vegetable oil.
Mix the potato with the onion and allow to cool.
Open your tin of corned beef and chop it into bite sized chunks. Mix with the onion and potato mixture.
Preheat the oven to 180 fan or 190 otherwise / gas mark 6.
Take your pastry out of the fridge and remove a third of the pastry and set it aside (this will be for the lid).
Roll out the larger piece of pastry to around 3mm thick circle, and use to line your pie dish (which you have lightly greased with oil).
Put the corned beef mixture into the pie case and flatten it down. Brush the edges of the pastry with a little beaten egg if you are using, or milk.
Roll out the smaller piece of pastry to a circle and place over the top of the pie.
Press down the top and bottom pastry so they are stuck together, and then crimp the sides shut with your fingers or the edge of a fork.
Make a hole in the centre of the lid for steam to escape.
Brush the top of the pie with egg wash (optional).
Bake the pie at 180 degrees fan / 190 degrees without fan / gas mark 6, for around 45 minutes until the top and sides are golden brown.
Allow to cool slightly before removing from the pie dish.
Serve warm or cold. Keeps in the fridge for 3 days.
Keyword corned beef, easy recipe, pie, potatoes, welsh classic
Find other traditional Welsh recipes here
- Crempogs
- Drover’s pie
- Plum and hazelnut cobbler
- Welsh onion cake
- Leek and goats cheese parcels
- Lamb cawl
- Rhubarb tarten planc
- Welsh cakes
