Aussie Meat Pies - cooking recipe

Ingredients

900 g beef rump, trimmed, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium brown onion, finely chopped
2 slices middle bacon, trimmed, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons plain flour
2 cups salt-reduced beef stock
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leave
4 sheets frozen ready-rolled shortcrust pastry, partially thawed, halved diagonally
2 sheets frozen premade puff pastry, partially thawed, quartered
1 egg, lightly beaten
tomato sauce, to serve

Preparation

Process steak until mixture resembles mince. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and bacon. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until golden. Add mince. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up mince, for 6 to 8 minutes or until browned.
Add tomato paste and flour. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until combined. Add stock and thyme. Stir to combine. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 30 minutes or until sauce has thickened and meat is tender. Season with pepper. Remove from heat.
Preheat oven to 200\u00b0C/180\u00b0C fan-forced. Line eight 7.5cm round pie moulds with shortcrust pastry. Trim excess. (I would bake the crust for 5-8 minutes before filling with meat mixture to have a flaky crust) Fill cases with steak mixture. Top with puff pastry. Trim excess. Press edges together with a fork to seal. Using a small sharp knife, cut a small cross in pie tops. Brush with egg. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden. Serve with sauce.