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| Rich Wild Venison Pie with Bacon, Stout, Rosemary, Bay and Juniper |
This rich venison pie is a riff on Jamie Oliver’s version, made with New Zealand wild venison. Although wild venison is beautifully organic, the stewing cuts can run tough, chewy, or a little dry sometimes depending on the age of the animal. The meat also needs more added fats than commercially farmed venison or beef, both of which work perfectly well as substitutes here. I’ve found wild venison is best browned first in a generous slosh of olive oil, and the flavour and texture lift again with a few rashers of streaky bacon (not the smoked kind you’d use in a bacon and egg pie). A pinch of instant beef stock powder can also help round things out.
I’m lucky to have bay trees and rosemary growing themselves around my garden, so fresh aromatics are always on hand and were perfect in this dish. I don’t have a juniper tree, though, so I used organic juniper berries from the pantry. Once I started cooking with them juniper, I realised how well they work in all sorts of stews and casseroles - whole or crushed. Together, these aromatics deepen the flavour of slow‑cooked dishes.
The real hero, though, is the stout and the slow oven braise that brings everything together before the flaky pastry lid goes on. It tastes like it's been simmering in an English country pub for days, yet it only takes a small amount of hands on work and cooks over a few hours. The smell while it cooks is out of this world, and the finished pie is even better served with buttered savoy cabbage and mashed potato. The stout’s strong malty edge softens beautifully during cooking if you're reading this and a little worried about taste.
Streaky bacon can be pricey, so when I spot good 120g packs on special, I buy a few, cut each packet in half (bacon, packet and all), and freeze the halves flat in a freezer bag. They defrost quickly and make it easy to add measured flavour and much‑needed fat to venison dishes without committing to a whole packet.
Watch this short Youtube tutorial here:
Ingredients
1kg diced venison stewing steak
60gms streaky bacon sliced thinly
Olive oil to fry
About 25 gms butter
1 440ml can stout or dark ale
1 red onion, peeled and finely diced
2-3 fat cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1-2 carrots, peeled and diced or thickly sliced
1 stick of celery, finely sliced
3-4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
2-3 fresh bay leaves, crushed
5-6 juniper berries, crushed (I cover with a piece of cling film and roll with a rolling pin)
2-3 large brown mushrooms, sliced
1 heaped dessertspoon of plain flour
Ground sea salt and black pepper
1 egg, frothed to wash before cooking (optional)
Ready rolled flaky pastry to suit your dish size (note you can either line your dish with pastry or simply add a topper)
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Heat a generous slosh of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for 2–3 minutes. Add the garlic, celery and carrots and cook covered for another 2–3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté covered for 2 minutes more. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl and set aside.
Without cleaning the pan, add another good slosh of olive oil and increase the heat to high. When the pan is hot, braise or brown the venison pieces. To avoid broiling the meat, pour off any meat juices into the reserved vegetables.
Once the meat is browned, melt the butter in with the meat, then sprinkle over the flour to absorb the remaining juices and butter. Return the vegetables to the pan, add the rosemary, bay leaves and juniper berries, then pour in the ale. If the liquid doesn’t fully cover the filling, top up with a little water or vegetable stock. Stir through and simmer gently until the sauce begins to thicken.
Carefully transfer the filling to a large casserole dish. Cover and bake for 2½–3 hours. If the filling is still runny at the end of cooking, either remove the lid to allow the liquid to reduce in the oven or return the stew to the frying pan and simmer until thickened.
While the filling is cooling, defrost the flaky pastry sheets and cut/press as needed to line your dish and sides (if using) and the pie topper. If using an inner crust be sure to grease the inside of the dish before lining. A hot filling will ruin pastry with steam, so it's best to wait until the filling has cooled.
Brush egg wash over the pastry top and make a couple of slits to allow steam to escape while cooking.
Bake at 200celcius for about half an hour or until the pastry is golden brown
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