At this time of year there’s nothing better than pie! And this one is a real heart warmer. Filled with delicious steak chilli and topped with a cheese crust it’s a little bit of heaven that’s easy to make.

Serves 6.

For the chilli;

Low calorie cooking spray
400g lean braising steak (or beef) cut into 1cm cubes
1 red onion
1 pepper (I used half a red one and half an orange one)
1 clove of garlic or 1 tsp of Lazy Garlic
1/2 tsp mild chilli powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 beef stock cube
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin kidney beans in chilli sauce (yes I know it’s a cheat but I did say this was easy!!)
2 squares of dark chocolate

For the Cheese Crust;

112g plain flour
Pinch of salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of mustard powder
56g butter
84g grated cheese
1 egg yolk

Making the chilli. Spray a large, lidded pan with a few spritzers of cooking spray. Over a medium high heat brown the steak on all sides. You might need to do this in 2 batches as you want it to brown and not to steam. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and put to one side.

Reduce the heat to medium and spray the pan again with cooking spray and add the onions and peppers and sauté until softened. Add the garlic and spices and cook for another minute to release the aromatics. Add the tomatoes purée and stir to coat all the vegetables with the purée and the spices.

Return the steak to the pan and add the tomatoes and kidney beans and stir to combine well. Crumble in the stock cube and half fill the kidney bean tin with water and then add that to the pan too. Finally add the chocolate. Stir again to combine all the flavours.

Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for an hour (stirring occasionally to make sure it’s not sticking to the bottom).

Meanwhile, make your cheese crust. Sieve the flour, salt, cayenne pepper and mustard into a large bowl.

Cube the butter and tube through the flour mix then add the grated cheese and stir well to combine.

Add the egg yolk and mix into a dough (add a little water if necessary) and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Turn out onto a floured board and knead gently until the dough is smooth (about 5 minutes).

Roll out when ready to top your pie.

Putting it all together.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Add your chilli to your pie dish, brush the edges of the dish with some milk and lay your cheese crust on top.

Decorate if you’re feeling arty and brush it all with milk and bake for 35-40 minutes until the crust is golden.