Tuesday 16 March 2010

Baking: Cornish Pasties

Makes about 8


Difficulty: Medium

 
Ingredients

For the pastry:

  • 450g of plain flour
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • Salt to taste
  • 120g of unsalted butter
  • 2 free-range egg yolks
  • Water
  • 1 beaten egg for glazing
For the filling:

  • 50g of swede, finely chopped
  • 150g of potato, peeled and cut into cubes
  • 50g of carrots, peeled and cut into cubes
  • 50g of onion, finely chopped
  • 100g of lean beef mince
  • 1 tablespoon of parsley (or more, depending on how herby you want the nix to be)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Method
  1. For the pastry, rub the flour, baking powder, salt and butter together with your fingers until it looks like breadcrumbs
  2. Add the egg yolks and mix in until it looks like breadcumbs again
  3. Gradually mix in the water, a tablespoon at a time, until the ingredients come together in a dough
  4. Roll the dough into a ball, put cling film over the top of the bowl and then place in the fridge for an hour
  5. Meanwhile, for the filling, bring a pan of salted water to the boil (the pan might need to be a decent size to get all of the vegetables in it)
  6. When it is boiling, add the swede, potato and carrot and cook for 4-5 minutes until tender
  7. Drain the pan well
  8. In a separate pan, brown the beef mince and then mix in the onions
  9. Add the tender vegetables and stir around again
  10. Season well with salt and pepper and add as much parsley as you want
  11. Take the mix off the heat
  12. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4
  13. If an hour has passed, roll out the pastry on a clean, floured work surface
  14. Cut medium sized discs out of the pastry - using a saucer as a guide is the easiest way to do this
  15. Place some of the filling in the middle of the discs - don't go overboard or you won't be able to close up the pastry!
  16. Brush the edge of the discs with some of the beaten egg
  17. Draw the edges of the pastry together and then crimp them with your fingers to seal it up (see the photo above to get the idea of the effect this gives)
  18. After doing this, brush the pastry with the beaten egg to give it a golden glaze
  19. Place on to a baking tray and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden-brown

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