Cornish pasties
I love a Cornish pasty and a pair make a great tea. I used beef mince because it’s what I had in, next time I’d probably use very finely sliced steak.
You will need
- 500g strong bread flour
- 130g cooking fat (I used baking block, next time I’d use lard and a little butter)
- Cold water
- Teaspoon of salt
- Beef mince (about 300g)
- An equal amount in volume to the beef of
- * Potato (fine diced)
- * Diced turnip
- * Diced onion
- A handful of fine sliced leek green tops
- Worcestershire sauce
- Salt and pepper (I used celery salt because it’s extra savoury)
- An egg
Do
- Rub the fat, salt and flour until it’s like breadcrumbs
- Add in enough cold water to make a smooth dough
- Pop it in the fridge for a few hours
- Mix the rest of the ingredients (except the egg) in a bowl and mash it up so it’s well mixed, I should have added a couple of tablespoons of water to loosen it up a bit.
- Once you’re ready to cook…
- Pop the oven on 200
- Roll out circles of dough, I used a soup bowl as a template
- Put a blob of the filling in the middle of the dough, then fold over and nip shut
- Pop them on a baking tray and brush with egg
- Bake for 20 minutes on high
- Turn the heat down to 140 and then bake for about another 30 minutes
- Best eaten when left for 20 minutes or so for the pastry to soften a little
Result
The pasty is smooth on the outside with a satisfying crunch but a pliable texture. The filling will have cooked down but the steam should have puffed the pastry out. The veg should be cooked though but still distinct. There’s a certain smell to Cornish pasties that you don’t get with anything else and I suspect it’s down to the pastry.
Ignore the veg in the last photo, that was an experiment I’d not try again.
