CookEat Recipe
Milanese Chocolate and Beef Pie
A historical sweet pie of finely minced cooked beef, chocolate, pine nuts, sultanas and candied citron enclosed in a wheat-and-cornmeal shortcrust.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 200 g plain cooked lean beef, boiled or roasted, trimmed of skin, gristle and excess fat; 100 g plain dark chocolate, finely chopped; 100 g caster sugar for the filling; 130 g butter: 50 g for the filling, 70 g for the pastry and 10 g for the tin; 50 g pine nuts; 50 g sultanas; 25 g candied citron, cut into very small pieces; About 60 ml Marsala for soaking the sultanas, plus a little more as needed for the pastry; 45 ml water for melting the chocolate; 170 g plain flour, plus about 10 g for rolling; 80 g fine cornmeal; 80 g icing sugar for the pastry; 25 g plain rendered lard for the pastry; 1 egg for the pastry; 1 additional egg yolk for glazing.
Step 2
Use plain freshly cooked beef, or cooked beef that was cooled promptly and kept at 4°C or colder for no more than 2–3 days. Mince it extremely finely by hand. Toast the pine nuts lightly in a dry pan and cool. Soak the sultanas in about 60 ml Marsala for 20 minutes, then drain them well; the soaking wine does not go into the filling.
Step 3
Heat 50 g butter in a pan and cook the finely minced beef in it, stirring continuously, until lightly reddish-brown. Remove from the heat and cool promptly. In a separate small pan, gently melt the chocolate with the 45 ml water, then stir in the caster sugar. Mix into the beef with the toasted pine nuts, drained sultanas and tiny citron pieces.
Step 4
For the pastry, mix the plain flour, fine cornmeal and icing sugar. Rub in 70 g butter and the 25 g lard, then mix in the whole egg and just enough additional Marsala to form a rollable dough, adding it a teaspoon at a time. Cover and chill for about 30 minutes. White wine may replace only this additional pastry Marsala; the sultanas are still soaked in Marsala.
Step 5
Heat the oven to 175°C and grease a shallow 24 cm pie tin with the reserved 10 g butter. Roll just over half the pastry about 3 mm thick on a lightly floured surface and line the base and low sides. Spread the filling no more than about 1.5–2 cm deep. Roll the remaining pastry into a lid and mark it lightly with parallel ridges using a ridged rolling pin or the back of a fork.
Step 6
Cover the filling, seal and trim the edges, and brush the top with the additional egg yolk. Bake for about 35–45 minutes until golden, the pastry is cooked and the centre of the filling reaches at least 74°C. If the lid colours too quickly, cover loosely with baking paper.
Step 7
Cool promptly and refrigerate at 4°C or colder within 2 hours. Serve cold in small slices, keeping the meat identity clear to diners. Keep refrigerated and eat within 2–3 days; making this pie does not extend the storage life of older leftovers. For the source’s veal version, replace the beef with 200 g plain cooked lean veal, trimmed and minced in the same way, and follow the complete method unchanged. For greasing the tin, 10 g plain rendered lard may replace the 10 g butter.
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