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Roast Beef Pie with Potato Crust

A savory pie of sliced roast beef in gravy topped with mashed potato crust.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Roast Beef Pie with Potato Crust

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Make the filling

  1. Combine sliced beef, saved gravy, butter, onion, pepper, salt, and enough water in a stewpan to make gravy.

  2. Thicken the mixture by adding flour.

  3. Simmer gently to avoid burning.

Make the potato crust

  1. Boil potatoes until tender.

  2. Mash the potatoes smooth with milk and butter.

Assemble and bake

  1. Transfer the stewed meat to a baking dish.

  2. Layer the mashed potatoes on top of the meat.

  3. Brush the potato layer with beaten egg.

  4. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until golden brown.

  5. Serve with tomato sauce or Worcestershire sauce.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,052 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  5. Pepper + potatotop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cold roast beef
Provides the main meat filling that is stewed in the gravy.
Flour
Thickens the gravy so it clings to the meat instead of running off.
Potatoes
Form the mashed topping that covers and holds in the meat filling.
Egg
Brushed over the potato layer to promote browning in the oven.
Onion
Adds savory flavor and aroma to the gravy-based filling.

The step that matters

Simmer gently to avoid burning.. Flour-thickened gravy scorches easily on direct heat, and the starch can settle and stick to the pan. Low, gentle heat keeps the sauce smooth and prevents a burnt taste.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, butter, pepper, flour, potato, milk, egg):

  1. Chivefits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Capsicumfits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, butter, pepper, flour, potato, milk, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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