With brisket being such a large cut of beef, it’s not unusual to have some leftover from your cooks. Especially for competition cooks, we bring home a lot of it. Fortunately there are a few great ways to use it up like our brisket chilli nachos), and brisket and cheese pie are one of the easiest and tastiest.

The best way to keep leftover brisket is to vacuum seal it. Amazon have a great selection of sealers available, or alternatively, Aldi here in Australia will often have them on sale.

Once sealed, chuck it in the freezer until you need it. When you decide to use it, thaw it out by placing the bag in warm water.

When it comes to the pie crusts themselves, you can do it old school by making a base and a top, and using pie tin. I prefer to use a pie maker, as they are uniform, and work every time. Again, you can find them on Amazon, and I use and recommend the Sunbeam Pie Magic.

Brisket and Cheese Pie Filling

• 1kg leftover cooked brisket (thawed if frozen)
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1 rasher of bacon, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 sticks of celery. sliced
• 1 cup button mushroom, diced
• Salt and pepper
• 1L beef stock
• 1 TBS flour
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 cup red wine
• Worcestershire sauce
• 1 400g tin of diced tomatoes
• 1 cup grated cheese (you can use anything, we typically use something like Colby)
• Puff pasty sheets, thawed
• Light shortcrust pastry sheets, thawed
• Potatoes, peeled and diced (optional)

Brisket and Cheese Pie Method

1. In a heavy based pot, heat some olive oil over a medium heat and sauté the onion, garlic and bacon until the onions are soft
2. Add the celery and carrot and cook for a further 2 minutes
3. Add a the flour and stir to coat the vegetables
4. Deglaze the pot with the red wine and cook off the alcohol
5. Add the brisket to the pot, stir. You shouldn’t need to add more salt and pepper between the brisket seasoning and the bacon, but do so if you wish.
6. Add diced tomatoes, beef stock, dash of Worcestershire sauce, thyme and paprika and stir to combine. If you choose to use the potatoes, add them here.
7. Bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook uncovered on the stove for an hour, or until the gravy has reduced and thickened
8. Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool
9. Preheat your pie maker and prepare your pie crusts per instructions on the cooker. Typically, it’s a shortcrust base and puff pastry top.
10. Fill the base pie crust with the mix, sprinkle with cheese and pope the pastry lid on top
11. Cook for 15 minutes or until crispy.
12. Serve!