During the week, I am usually busy, and all I have time to do is throw some pasta on the boil and mix it with pesto – but weekends are when I like to really take my time with my cooking.

Spending a couple of hours in the kitchen listening to music and making something delicious is my idea of heaven, but this weekend, I took it even further.

I decided to make a BBC Good Food recipe for a steak and stilton pie, something I have been craving for a long time, and that felt like real comfort food.

Slightly less comforting, however, was the fact that it took about five hours until it was ready. Despite the lengthy process, this rustic handmade pie exceeded all expectations.

Tender slow cooked beef, a rich and flavourful gravy with the sharp tang of the blue cheese cutting through it all perfectly – it was the best way to spend a weekend ever.

Plus, I managed to watch an entire season of a TV show while it was cooking – one of my other favourite things to do on a weekend.

If you fancy spending a few hours making this delicious recipe, then the details are all below.

Steak and cheese pie recipe

For the pastry

400g plain flour

One tbsp English mustard powder

100g lard

100g butter

Two eggs beaten (one for the pastry and one for egg wash)

For the filling

1kg braising steak such as brisket or skirt, cut into chunks, any sinew and fatty bits discarded

50g plain flour

One tbsp English mustard powder

Three tbsp rapeseed oil or vegetable oil

250g bacon lardons

Two carrots cut into small chunks

Two onions chopped

Two bay leaves

One tbsp Worcestershire sauce

One tbsp tomato purée

600ml beef stock

Six thyme sprigs

150g strong crumbly blue cheese such as stilton

Method

First, make the pastry. Put the flour, mustard powder, ½ tsp salt, the lard and butter in a food processor and pulse until combined. Add one egg and pulse again.

Add one tbsp cold water, if needed, until it forms a short pastry. Knead quickly into a ball, then wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. This pastry can be made up to three days in advance and will freeze well for up to three months.

Season the steak generously with salt and pepper then toss with the flour and mustard powder. Heat half the oil in a large pan.

Brown the meat in a few batches, adding more oil as you need to and making sure you don’t overcrowd the pan. Turn the meat only when the underside has a nice dark crust. Transfer the chunks to a plate as you go.

Add the bacon to the pan and fry until beginning to crisp. Tip in the carrots, onions, and bay leaves and cook for another few minutes until the vegetables are soft.

Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and tomato purée for one minute, scraping the tasty bits from the bottom of the pan, then add the stock, thyme and browned beef.

Season, cover the pan and simmer gently for two and a half hours, stirring now and again to prevent the sauce from sticking, until the beef is tender.

Remove the lid for the last 30 minutes to thicken the sauce. Alternatively, braise in the oven at 160C/140C fan/gas 3 for the same amount of time.

Leave to cool. Can be chilled for up to three days, or frozen for two months.

Transfer the beef to a pie dish and crumble the cheese over the top. Roll out the pastry on a floured worktop until large enough to cover the pie and about ½cm thick.

Brush the remaining beaten egg over the edges of the pie dish, drape the pastry over, trim the excess and pinch around the edge to seal.

Cut a hole for the stream to escape and brush the top all over with beaten egg.

Use the pastry trimmings to decorate the pie however you like. Chill for about 30 mins while you heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.

If you have any beaten egg left, give the pie a final brush for extra glossiness. Bake for 45-50 mins until the pastry is deep golden.