Brisket Pot Pie

Brisket pot pie is a second dinner from the last of a smoked or braised brisket. Chop about 3 cups of it, simmer it with onion, carrots, potato and peas in a thick gravy made from beef stock and the juices you saved from the brisket, then cover it with puff pastry and bake at 400 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, until the crust is deep golden and the filling bubbles through the vents.

Brisket suits a pot pie better than most leftovers because it has already done its slow cooking. The fat and connective tissue have melted, so the pieces stay tender in the gravy instead of drying out. If it was smoked, a little of that smoke carries through the whole pie.

At a glance: serves 6. Prep 20 minutes with cooked brisket on hand, cook about 1 hour, cool and rest 25 minutes.

Buy this cut

PM Brisket, Whole

This recipe uses about 3 cups of cooked brisket. The cart adds 1 whole raw brisket, a big cut that feeds a crowd first and leaves plenty for this pie.

Add 1 whole brisket to cartView Product

Cooking for a full freezer instead? See the 1/8 beef share subscription.

Gray Shipley, who runs the farm, was explaining what its motto of no shortcuts means to him when he said:

“we'll put in the extra effort to do things right.”

Gray Shipley

He was describing how the farm works, not how to make a pie. Still, a pie from leftovers is only a shortcut on the surface. The brisket under this crust took a long day of slow cooking, and the gravy is built on its own juices rather than a packet.

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked brisket, cut into 3/4-inch pieces, about 1 pound
• 3 tablespoons fat saved from the brisket, or butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 1 medium Yukon Gold potato, about 8 ounces, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups low-sodium beef stock
• 1/2 cup brisket juices, skimmed of fat, or more stock
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup frozen peas
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, about 9 ounces, thawed in the refrigerator
• 1 large egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Melt the brisket fat or butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and potato and cook, stirring often, until the onion is soft and the potato is starting to turn translucent at the edges, 8 to 10 minutes.
2. Stir in the garlic and thyme for 30 seconds, then sprinkle over the flour and stir for 1 to 2 minutes, until it smells toasty and coats the vegetables.
3. Pour in the stock a little at a time, stirring constantly so no lumps form, then add the brisket juices and Worcestershire. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until the gravy is thick enough to coat a spoon and the potato is tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
4. Stir in the brisket and peas and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the brisket is heated through. Taste, and season with salt and pepper; smoked brisket is often salty already. Pour the filling into a 9-by-9-inch (2 1/2-quart) baking dish and let it cool for 15 minutes.
5. Unfold the pastry on a lightly floured counter and roll it just enough to cover the dish with a 1/2-inch overhang. Lay it over the filling, press the edges onto the rim, brush the top with the egg wash and cut four slits in the center for steam.
6. Set the dish on a rimmed sheet pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and deep golden and the gravy bubbles through the slits. A thermometer pushed through a slit into the center should read 165 degrees F.
7. Let the pie rest for 10 minutes before serving, so the gravy sets and the first spoonful holds together.

Add 1 whole brisket to cart

Starting from a whole brisket

This pie is a leftovers recipe, and the cart button above buys a whole raw brisket, not cooked meat. Cook it first, smoked or braised, and come back to this pie with what is left. The guide below on how to smoke a brisket covers the long cook. Braising works too: a brisket cooked covered in a low oven with onions and stock until it is fork-tender makes a fine pot pie, and its braising liquid is ready-made gravy.

Save two things while you carve: a few spoonfuls of the rendered fat, which takes the place of butter in the filling, and the juices from the pan or the wrapping. Chill the juices and lift off the fat that sets on top. Refrigerate or freeze the leftover brisket within two hours of cooking, in portions about the size of this pie.

Either part of the brisket works. The fattier point stays the juiciest in a pie, and the leaner flat cuts into neat cubes. Leftover braised chuck roast works the same way, and the guide below compares the two cuts if you are deciding which to cook.

Getting the gravy thick enough

A pot pie needs a thicker gravy than a stew, because there is nowhere for loose liquid to go but into the pastry. When it is right, it coats the back of a spoon and a finger drawn through it leaves a clean line. If it is still thin after 10 minutes of simmering, mix 1 tablespoon of flour with 2 tablespoons of cold stock, stir it in and simmer for 2 minutes more. The gravy guide below has other fixes.

Puff pastry or pie crust?

Puff pastry gives a tall, flaky top and asks nothing of you but thawing. A refrigerated pie crust gives a sturdier, more traditional lid; lay it over the dish, crimp the edge and bake for the same time. Either way, bake on a sheet pan; a full pot pie usually bubbles over.

A potato-topped version, instead of pastry

The same brisket filling also bakes well under a lid of thinly sliced potatoes rather than pastry. Leave the diced potato out of the filling. Slice 1 1/2 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes about 1/8 inch thick, toss them with 2 tablespoons of melted butter, salt and pepper, and lay them over the filling in overlapping rows. Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for 25 to 30 minutes more, until the potatoes are tender and browned at the edges and the center reads 165 degrees F.

Make ahead and leftovers

The filling can be made a day ahead and refrigerated in its dish. Put the pastry on just before baking and add 10 to 15 minutes to the time, since the filling starts cold. Tent it with foil if the crust browns before the center reaches 165 degrees F. Refrigerate leftovers within two hours, and reheat portions covered in a 350-degree oven for about 20 minutes, uncovering for the last 5 to crisp the pastry, until hot through.

Food safety

USDA FSIS lists 145 degrees F, followed by a rest of at least 3 minutes, as the safe minimum internal temperature for beef roasts; a brisket cooked until tender passes it long before it is done. Casseroles and leftovers, and this pie is both, should reach 165 degrees F. Check the center with an instant-read thermometer through one of the steam vents, and again whenever you reheat it. See the FSIS Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart.