Broccoli Beef and Cheddar Cheese Pie in a Curry Béchamel Sauce

Want a better way to use leftovers? Make a pie! This Broccoli Beef and Cheddar Cheese Pie in a Curry Béchamel Sauce is the result of leftover grilled flank steak that needed some TLC.

I’ve been on a bit of a baking craze as of late and just felt like a pie for dinner. Seeing the flank steak I was going to use for sandwiches in the refrigerator, I decided to dice it up with some blanched broccoli florets, cheddar cheese and a sauce that would get poured into a beautiful pie crust.

Now you could go the quick and easy route and use frozen broccoli, pre-made pie crusts and shredded cheese and you’d have this meal in under 30 minutes. I decided since I had made tarts and empanadas this weekend to do one last, from scratch, buttery pie crust. BUT I want a top and a bottom for the dinner to encase and allow the beautiful filling to render and get all gooey-good inside. A quick whisked egg was brushed on top and in the oven it went.

Let me give you the breakdown…

Preheat your oven to 400° F.  Place one rolled out pie crust into an ungreased 9-inch pie pan or baking stone. Press dough down and against sides. Prick bottom of dough with fork to allow steam to release while baking. Bake pie crust 12 minutes. I pre-bake the bottom crust so the end result pie is not soggy on the bottom.

In the meantime cut broccoli into small florets and blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes. Remove from boiling water and place in an ice bath to shock and keep color and cool. Chop leftover flank steak into small pieces. Shred sharp cheddar cheese. Chop cilantro. Place all in a medium sized bowl and mix together. Set aside.

Make the roux to thicken your sauce by melting butter in sauté pan over medium heat and then add flour. Stir with whisk and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in milk and seasonings and continue to cook on low for 3-4 minutes, or until thickened. I opted for the curry powder because I had a similar marinade on my flank steak I am using from a previous meal. I think the end result of a curry béchamel sauce was brilliant in flavor and perfect for this.

Pour curry béchamel sauce over beef, cheese and broccoli. Mix to coat everything and pour beef broccoli mixture into baked pie shell. 

Top mixture with other raw pie dough. Press the dough edges together with the baked shell with fork tines.

Whisk an egg in a small bowl with a fork. Brush top pie dough with egg, cut slits on top to release steam and bake for 15 minutes.

Now look at that beauty!

Remove from oven and allow to cool on wire rack for 15 minutes then slice and serve.

The subtle curry flavor is perfect with the melted cheddar cheese, which actually is a fantastic combination.

See, I was just going to make a sandwich with the leftover flank steak I had and this came about. A beautiful, savory pie that has still al dente broccoli, cheese and meat all in one bite after bite.

The buttery, flaky pie crust is so delicate and I think everything is better with cheddar! Enjoy.

Broccoli Beef and Cheddar Cheese Pie in a Curry Béchamel Sauce

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

27 mins

Total time

37 mins

 

Feel free to use frozen broccoli florets, shredded cheddar cheese and refrigerated pie crust to make a really quick and delicious meal using leftover flank steak.

Author: Kevin

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped flank steak
• 1½ cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded
• 2 cups chopped steamed broccoli
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup flour
• 1½ cup milk
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp cumin
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 pie crusts (see below if making from scratch)
  
  
• Dough
• 2¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• 1½ cups plus 2 tbsp chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
• 7 tbsp ice water
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400° F.
2. Place one rolled out pie crust into an ungreased 9-inch pie pan or baking stone. Press dough down and against sides. Prick bottom of dough with fork to allow steam to release while baking. Bake pie crust 12 minutes.
3. In the meantime cut broccoli into small florets and blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes. Remove from boiling water and place in an ice bath to shock and keep color and cool. Chop leftover flank steak into small pieces. Shred sharp cheddar cheese. Chop cilantro. Place all in a medium sized bowl and mix together. Set aside.
4. Make roux by melting butter in sauté pan over medium heat and then add flour. Stir with whisk and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in milk and seasonings and continue to cook on low for 3-4 minutes, or until thickened.
5. Pour curry béchamel sauce over beef, cheese and broccoli. Mix to coat everything and pour beef broccoli mixture into baked pie shell.
6. Top with other raw pie shell. Press pie dough edges on top of other baked shell with fork tines. Brush top with egg, cut slits on top to release steam and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on wire rack for 15 minutes then serve.
   
   
7. Dough:
8. Pulse the flour, salt and baking powder in a food processor to combine.
9. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. With motor running, slowly drizzle ½ cup ice water and vinegar through feed tube. Pulse until dough just begins to come together.
10. Divide dough in half. Form each half into a ball; flatten into disks.
11. Wrap each disk tightly in plastic. Chill for at least 2 hours. DO AHEAD - Dough can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.
12. Take 1 chilled dough disk from refrigerator at a time and let stand at room temperature for 15-20 minutes to soften slightly before rolling out.

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