Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1.8kg gravy beef, excess fat trimmed, cut into 2.5cm pieces
• 250g short-cut bacon rashers, rind removed, coarsely chopped
• 400g button mushrooms, halved
• 1 brown onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 large red capsicum, seeded, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 440ml can Guinness beer
• 250ml (1 cup) Massel beef stock
• 140g (1/2 cup) tomato paste
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh continental parsley
• 8 sheets (25 x 25cm) frozen puff pastry, just thawed
• 1 egg, lightly whisked
• 60g (3/4 cup) chilled swiss cheese, finely grated

Method

• Step 1 Heat half the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook one-third of the beef, stirring, for 3-4 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat, in 2 more batches, with the remaining beef, reheating the pan between batches.
• Step 2 Add bacon and mushroom to pan. Cook, stirring, for 10 minutes or until golden. Add to beef. Heat remaining oil in pan over medium heat. Cook onion and capsicum, stirring, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Gradually stir in the Guinness and stock until well combined. Stir in tomato paste and thyme. Increase heat to medium-high. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low. Cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 hours. Uncover. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes or until liquid reduces slightly and beef is tender. Stir in parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside for 1 hour to cool. Transfer to an airtight container. Place in fridge for 3-4 hours or until cooled completely.
• Step 3 Preheat oven to 220°C. Use an 11.5cm-diameter round pastry cutter to cut 30 discs from the pastry. Reserve excess pastry. Divide the beef mixture among six 375ml (1 1/2-cup) capacity ovenproof dishes.
• Step 4 Brush the edges of the dishes with egg. Top each dish with a pastry disc. Press edges to seal. Top with 1/2 teaspoon of cheese and another pastry disc. Continue layering, 3 more times, with the remaining cheese and pastry, finishing with the pastry. Cut out 6 hearts from the reserved pastry. Brush the tops of the pies with egg. Decorate with the pastry hearts. Place the pies on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes or until golden.