Firstly I slice the onions into half moons about 1 cm thick, hopefully avoiding any weeping.
I use the largest frying pan I have and fry the onions in olive oil gently for about 15 minutes until they caramelise and go brown. This really enhances the flavour and brings a sweetness to the pie party.
If you're baking your pie on the day then now is the time to preheat your oven to 200 C (180 fan)/400 F/Gas Mark 6
Scoop out your onions and set aside. Using the same frying pan put it back on a medium heat, add another tbsp of olive oil and add the minced beef. Break the mince up with a wooden spoon or similar.
The idea is to brown it all a little. Once the frying gets going you will see water begin to be released from the mince. This is when I scatter the flour over the top.
Mix the flour completely in and then add the stock and the worcestershire sauce.
Let it all bubble away for 15 minutes or so.
Add the onions back into the pan.
To prepare your pie dish for the pastry lid then cut off pastry strips to fit your pie dish rim. You will need to roll out your pastry to a thickness of 3 mm on a floured surface if your pastry is not pre rolled. Brush your pie rim with a little water.
Place the pastry strips on top of your pastry dish rim. Fill your pie dish with your minced beef filling. Let the mixture cool for fifteen minutes at least.
Top your pie with the pastry carefully. I usually use a rolling pin to help move the pastry across over to the pie. Trim the excess pastry from around the dish with a knife.
Make a couple of slits in the centre for steam to escape and then pinch the edges of the pie to crimp. I also like to cut 3 diamond shapes from the pastry offcuts and stick them around the steam holes. You could get all crafty and make anything you fancy out of the leftover pastry.
Brush generously all over the top of the pie with egg wash to get a beautiful glaze to the pastry when baked.
Bake for about 40 minutes until puffed up and about as gorgeous as you can imagine.