Game Pie Without the Fuss
A proper game pie usually involves a whole day and a hot water crust. This one takes an evening and a sheet of good bought puff pastry, and loses almost nothing in the process. The filling is the point: ground venison braised down with mushrooms and bone broth until dark, thick and glossy. Cool the filling before the pastry goes on, or the base will never crisp.
Ingredients
Serves 6 | Cost: $7.25 per serving | Total: $43.50 | Ready in 55 min
- 800 g (1¾ lb) ground venison
- 400 g (14 oz) mixed mushrooms, roughly torn
- 3 tablespoons beef tallow
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 500 ml (2 cups) beef bone broth
- 150 ml red wine
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 sheet all-butter puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten, for glazing
Instructions
- Brown the venison. Heat 2 tablespoons of the tallow in a heavy pan over high heat. Add the ground venison and cook for 6 minutes, breaking it up only occasionally, until well browned. Transfer to a bowl.
- Colour the mushrooms. Add the remaining tallow and the torn mushrooms to the pan. Leave them undisturbed for 4 minutes to drive off their water and colour, then stir and cook for a further 3 minutes with the thyme.
- Make the gravy. Return the venison to the pan, sprinkle over the flour, and stir for 2 minutes. Add the red wine and reduce by half, then pour in the bone broth and Worcestershire sauce.
- Braise and cool. Simmer gently for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thick enough that a spoon leaves a clear trail. Season well, then tip into a deep pie dish and cool for at least 20 minutes.
- Top and bake. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Lay the pastry over the dish, trim and crimp the edges, cut two steam vents, and brush all over with beaten egg. Bake for 25–30 minutes until deeply golden and puffed.
Nutritional & Dietary Notes
High Protein
Built around a generous serving of premium BC-sourced protein, this dish is designed to support muscle repair, satiety and steady energy through the day. It works particularly well as a post-training meal or as the anchor of a high-protein meal prep rotation.
Featured HOTRO.ca Product
This recipe is built around Ground Venison from HOTRO.ca. We source premium BC-raised and ethically farmed meats and slow-simmered bone broth, so the quality of the core ingredient does most of the work for you. Substituting a lesser product will change the result more than any other single change you could make to this recipe.
A deep pie of braised venison and mushrooms in bone broth gravy under a golden pastry lid.