This recipe will feed 65-70 people.
Make the stew ahead of time to allow it to cool completely before adding the puff pastry lits. It will enhance the flavour and keeps the puff pastry from getting soggy through the steam coming off the heat filling underneath.
Rather than using expensive steak, choose stewing beef which is more affordable and more flavourful after stewing for a couple of hours.
It is recommended to stew in the oven rather than on the stovetop, since the temperature control is more precise and the dish doesn’t burn as easily. In the oven, that heat is coming from all directions more or less equally. On the stovetop, the heat is coming only from the bottom.
It is possible to serve the potatoes on the side rather than inside the pie.
It is possible to make a large pie rather than individual ones.
For food safety reasons, the stew needs to cool as quickly as possible to fridge temperature. It is recommended to divide the stew in smaller containers placed in I sink full of cold water.