What do you need when you realize that it’s still winter and there is still snow/slush/cold or a damp bite in the air? Winter comfort food! What is better than a beefy pot pie or a beefy barley soup when the weather outside is less than thrilling? Oxtail pot pie and oxtail barley soup!
Remember last week when we made the Porter Pancetta Porcini Oxtail Stew and I told you to save the leftover meat and sauce? Well here are not one, but two, recipes to reboot your leftovers. They are both super easy to do and extremely quick to prepare. The cooking time is a little longer, but these are good recipes for whipping together quickly. Besides, you can sit back and enjoy a glass of wine while they cook!
Oxtail Pot Pie
Prep time: 2 minutes; Cook time: Approximately 10 minutes + 45 minutes baking; Serves: 4
What you need:
- 1 – 2 cups leftover oxtail meat (whatever you have left over), shredded, bones removed
- 2 cups leftover oxtail stew sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 2 pie crusts (no, I did not make my pie crust, but if you want to, go ahead)
What you do:
- Preheat your oven to 375ºF
- In a saucepan, add oxtail meat and sauce over medium high heat
- Stir until bubbling
- Mix the water and cornstarch together so there are no lumps
- Stir the water/cornstarch mix into the oxtail mix, cook for 2 minutes
- Pour into the bottom pie crust
- Cover with the other pie crust, making sure the two layers have no air pockets in between
- Wet the edges and press so they stick together and then crimp edges
- Cut slits in the top
- Put on a baking sheet and place in oven
- Cook for approximately 40 minutes until crust is gold brown and oxtail is bubbling out of the slits
- Place on a rack and let cook for about 5 minutes prior to cutting
Oxtail Barley Soup
Prep time: 2 minutes; Cook time: Approximately 45 minutes – 1 hour; Serves: 4 – 6
What you need:
- 4 cups leftover oxtail sauce
- 3 cups water
- 1 – 1 1/2 cup pearl barley (I used more barley and made a really thick soup-like stew)
- salt, pepper to taste
What you do:
- In a large pot over medium-high heat, add the oxtail sauce and water
- Stir. Bring to a boil
- Add the barley
- Stir, reduce heat to medium low
- Cook for approximately 45 minutes – 1 hour until barley is cooked
- Add salt and pepper to taste (you can also add hot sauce if you want a bit more zip, but it will definitely benefit from a good hit of salt)
- If you want it thinner, add more water
- Leftovers can be frozen for a quick dinner down the road
