Proper Pasties
Page 6
When the oxtail is cool, carefully remove the meat from the bones, roughly chopping it and discarding any fat as you go. When all the meat has been picked from the bones, stir it into the liquid. Taste, and adjust the seasoning and heat if necessary, then cover the pan and allow to chill in the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7.
Peel and chop the remaining onion, and the sweet potato. Roll out the pastry, and fill with the sweet potato, onion, and the oxtail mixture which should now be quite firm. Crimp and egg wash as usual, and bake for around 35 minutes until golden brown.
Lamb and Mint Pasties
Makes 4
Your choice of pastry for 4 pasties (See pastry section)
500g (18oz) lamb neck
2 medium potatoes
2 medium onion
½ small swede
1 tbsp freshly chopped mint (or 2 tsp dried mint)
Knob of butter
Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
Follow the recipe for traditional Cornish pasties, the only difference here is using the lamb instead of the beef, and sprinkling the mint over the filling just before crimping – delicious!
“Good food is the foundation
of genuine happiness”
- Auguste Escoffier
Pork and Sage Pasties
Makes 4
Your choice of pastry for 4 pasties (See pastry section)
500g (18oz) pork tenderloin
2 medium potatoes
2 medium onions
½ small swede
8 large leaves of sage, chopped (or 2 tsp dried sage)
Knob of butter
Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
Follow the recipe for traditional Cornish pasties, the only difference here is using the pork instead of the beef, and mixing the sage in with the vegetables. I like to use even more black pepper than usual here, it works really well with the pork!
Cheese and Bacon Pasties
Makes 4
Your choice of pastry for 4 pasties (See pastry section)
6 rashers of good quality streaky bacon
200g (7 oz) strong Cheddar cheese, grated
2 medium potatoes
1 medium onion
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
Chop the bacon and cook in a dry frying pan for 3 – 4 minutes until nicely coloured, then set aside and allow to cool.
Chop the vegetables as for traditional Cornish pasties, add the bacon, grated cheese, and chives and season well.
Roll out the pastry and fill, crimp, and egg wash the pasties as usual. Bake for 45 – minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before eating, as the cheese gets very hot!
English Breakfast Pasties
Makes 4
Your choice of pastry for 4 pasties (See pastry section)
4 pork sausages
4 rashers of streaky bacon
3 eggs
100g (3½oz) mushrooms
100g (3½oz) black pudding
Salt and pepper
A little cooking oil
1 extra egg
Add a little oil to a large non-stick frying pan, or a heavy skillet and place on a medium heat. Crack 2 eggs into the pan, and roughly stir with a wooden spoon or spatula to quickly cook. Roughly “chop” the eggs with the wooden spoon, and remove from the pan to cool. Slice the mushrooms and black pudding and add these to the pan, cook for a couple of minutes, turning once. Remove and set aside with the eggs. Turn up the heat and add the sausages to the pan, and cook for a few minutes, just long enough to brown them on all sides. While they are cooking, chop the bacon and add that to the pan with the sausages. When the sausages and bacon are browned, remove from the pan and allow to cool.
When cooled, roughly chop the sausages and black pudding, combine all the ingredients in a bowl, season well and mix.
Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7.
Roll out your pastry and fill with the mixture you already prepared. Crimp, egg wash and bake as for normal pasties except at a slightly higher heat and for a little less time (since the filling is cooked, you'll only need to leave them in the oven for 35 – 40 minutes)
Enjoy! By the way, this is the ONLY time that it's OK to have baked beans with a pasty!!
“If you want to eat well in England, you should eat three breakfasts”
- W. Somerset Maugham
Chicken and Mushroom Pasties
Makes 4
Your choice of pastry for 4 pasties (See pastry section)
2 large chicken breasts, skin removed
150g (5oz) mushrooms
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 medium potatoes
1 medium onion
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Knob of butter
Salt and pepper
Slice the mushrooms, and fry in a little oil for 2 minutes, add the garlic and fry for another 2 minutes until soft and starting to take on some colour. Remove the pan from the heat, add a pinch of flour and stir in, then set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
Peel and chop the potato and onion, mix in the cooled mushrooms and tarragon, season well and mix thoroughly. Dice the chicken.
Roll out the pastry and fill with the vegetable mixture, topped with the chicken and a knob of butter. Fold, crimp and egg wash as usual and bake for 45 – 50 minutes.
“In the abstract art of cooking,
ingredients trump appliances,
passion supersedes expertise,
creativity triumphs over technique,
spontaneity inspires invention,
and wine makes even the worst culinary disaster taste delicious”
- Bob Blumer
Chicken and Chorizo Pasties
Makes 4
Your choice of pastry for 4 pasties (See pastry section)
2 large chicken breasts, skin removed
150g (5oz) chorizo
2 medium potatoes
1 medium onion
1 tsp dried thyme
Pinch of smoked paprika
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Knob of butter
Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
Peel and chop the potato and onion, add the paprika, season well with salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Dice the chicken and chorizo.
Roll out the pastry and fill with the vegetable mixture, topped with the chicken and chorizo, then sprinkle over the thyme and add a knob of butter. Fold, crimp and egg wash as usual and bake for 45 – 50 minutes.
Roasted Mediterranean Vegetable Pasties
Makes 4
Your choice of pastry for 4 pasties (See pastry section)
1 Large aubergine
2 Large courgettes
2 Red onions
1 Red pepper
1 Yellow pepper
1 small bulb of fennel
2 large tomatoes
3 Cloves garlic
Handful of fresh oregano (or 2 tsp dried)
Olive oil
Salt
Black pepper
1 Egg
Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7.
Peel and roughly chop the onions. Roughly chop the aubergine, courgettes, fennel, and peppers (discarding the seeds) and place all the vegetables into a roasting tray with the peeled (whole) garlic cloves. Scatter over the oregano and season with salt and black pepper. Drizzle all over with olive oil, and then turn the vegetables to coat evenly. Place in the oven and cook for around 25 minutes, turning once, until they are softened and starting to colour. Remove from the oven, discard the garlic, and leave to cool.
Turn the oven down to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
Deseed and chop the tomatoes, and mix in with the roasted vegetables.
Rol
l out your pastry rounds, fill, fold and crimp as for normal pasties but without adding any butter. Brush with egg wash, pierce steam holes in the tops, and bake for around 45 minutes until golden brown.
Roasted Squash, Ricotta and Sage Pasties
Makes 4
Your choice of pastry for 4 pasties
1 Large butternut squash
1 Large onion
100g (3½oz) Ricotta
8 Large fresh sage leaves (or 1 tsp dried)
1 Tsp whole cumin seeds
Salt
Black pepper
1 Egg
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.
Peel, deseed, and roughly chop the squash. Place it into a small roasting tray, season with salt and pepper, and scatter over the cumin seeds. Drizzle with enough olive oil to coat. Turn the squash over to cover it evenly in the oil and roast in the oven for 30 – 35 minutes until softened and just starting to colour around the edges. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Turn the oven down to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
Peel and finely chop the onion. Chop the sage. Roll out your pastry rounds.
Fill each pasty with the roasted squash, a handful of the onion, and then top with sage and then ricotta. Fold and crimp as normal, pierce steam holes in the top and brush with egg wash then place in the oven for around 45 minutes until golden brown.
These pasties work especially well with wholemeal pastry!
“I cook with wine,
sometimes I even add it to the food”
- W.C. Fields
Mushroom and Blue Cheese Pasties
Makes 4
Your choice of pastry for 4 pasties
500g (18oz) mushrooms (chestnut mushrooms work well)
100g (3½oz) blue cheese
1 large onion
1 clove garlic
25g (1oz) butter
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp mixed herbs
Salt
Black pepper
1 egg
Slice the mushrooms. Add the butter to a large frying pan, and fry off the mushrooms until softened, adding the crushed garlic for the last minute. Sprinkle the flour over, and stir in to absorb any liquid. Set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
Peel and finely chop the onion. Roll out your pastry rounds.
Fill each pasty with a combination of onion, and the mushroom mixture. Season, sprinkle over the mixed herbs, and crumble over the blue cheese before folding and crimping. Egg wash and cook as for normal pasties.
Tip – these work really well with a little bacon! Just finely chop a couple of rashers of streaky back bacon and add to the pan at the start, adding the mushrooms just as the bacon starts to colour.
“Eat food,
mostly plants,
not too much”
- Sign in at Glastonbury festival
Tricolore (Mozzarella, Basil and Tomato) Pasties
Makes 4
Your choice of pastry for 4 pasties
2 balls of mozzarella
1 medium onion
300g (10oz) mini plum tomatoes
Good handful of fresh basil
Olive oil
Salt
Black pepper
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
Cut each of the tomatoes in half, and place them cut side up on a roasting tray. Drizzle with a little olive oil, season with salt and then place into the oven for 25 minutes or until they have shrivelled to about half their original size but not started to burn. This intensifies their flavour, and reduces the moisture content. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Turn the oven up to 220°C/425°F/gas 7.
Slice the mozzarella and pat dry on kitchen towel. Chop the onion.
Roll out the pastry. Fill each pasty with a little of the onion topped with the tomatoes, then some of the torn basil leaves and then lay slices of mozzarella over the top. Season with black pepper, then fold, crimp and egg-wash in the usual way.
Bake for around 35 minutes until golden brown, and allow to cool slightly before eating as the cheese gets very hot!
“I think preparing food and feeding people brings nourishment not only to our bodies but to our spirits. Feeding people is a way of loving them, in the same way that feeding ourselves is a way of honouring our own createdness and fragility”
- Shauna Niequist
Cheese, Leek and Onion Pasties
Makes 4
Your choice of pastry for 4 pasties
300g (10oz) strong Cheddar cheese, grated
2 medium potatoes
1 medium onion
1 medium leek
1 clove of garlic
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper
Peel and chop the potatoes, onion, and leek and place into a mixing bowl. Finely slice the garlic and add that to the vegetable mixture, along with the grated cheese. Season with salt and pepper, add a pinch of cayenne pepper, and mix thoroughly.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
Roll out your pastry rounds, fill with the cheese and vegetable mixture, and then fold and crimp in the usual way. Brush with egg wash and cook as for normal pasties for around 45 minutes, until they are golden brown. Let them cool slightly before eating as the cheese will be very hot!
Cheese and Marmite Pasties
Makes 4
Your choice of pastry for 4 pasties (See pastry section, I think these work best with a wholemeal crust)
300g (10oz) strong Cheddar cheese, grated
3 medium potatoes
1 medium onion
Marmite
Salt and pepper
1 egg
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
Chop the vegetables as for traditional Cornish pasties, add the grated cheese, and season well.
Roll out the pastry and spread a little marmite over each round, covering the area where the filling normally goes and going into the crimp area (gives a nice, savoury, marmite taste to the crimp!)
Fill the pasties with the cheese and vegetable mixture, then crimp, and egg wash the pasties as usual. Bake for 45 – 50 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before eating, as the cheese gets very hot!
I hope you love 'em, but if not you'll probably hate 'em!
“Afters Pasties” & Adventures in TV Land
After winning my second Cornish Pasty Championship title I started getting calls and emails from various people asking if I would be interested in various projects ranging from baking pasties to sell at a farmer's market, to filming a series of “how to” style videos for a local new media TV channel. I turned most of the offers down due to being far too busy with other projects, but there was one offer which caught my attention.
One day I received an email, out of the blue, from a TV producer asking if I'd be interested in working with them. They were in the early stages of planning for the next series of a popular Channel 4 programme, and were looking for someone to work with developing and filming some pasty recipes. The programme was River Cottage and since Hugh Fearnely-Whittingstall has always been one of my “food heroes” I jumped at the chance. I knew how stressful television filming can be after competing on TV's Masterchef 2 years running, but I also knew that it was a lot of fun, that I was sure to learn loads from the experience, plus it would be great publicity for this book.
Over the course of several weeks I spoke with the production team on the phone, sent emails back and forth and worked on several recipe ideas. They seemed all set to arrange a date for filming in early July, since I would be at the Glastonbury festival at the end of June, and by coincidence the producer and several of his team were going to Glastonbury too. However, a few days after the festival I had one final email thanking me for all my help, hoping we could work together in the future, but unfortunately they had changed their plans and decided to shoot the piece at a local bakery instead as it would give them a better location to film.
Needless to say I was a little disappointed as it would have been an interesting experience, and by that time I had already invested considerable time and effort into the project. All wasn't lost however, since I'm now able to share one of the recipes I developed for the programme with you...