Cornish Pasties
Traditional hand held beef pies originated in Cornwall, England
Servings: 4 pasties
Ingredients
Short Crust Pastry
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour 315 grams
- ½ tsp salt
- ⅓ cup cold lard, cut into cubes 100 grams
- ⅓ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes 100 grams
- ½ cup ice water 120 mls
Cornish Pasties
- ½ lb skirt steak, strip steak or similar cut of beef 225 grams
- ½ lb potatoes 225 grams
- ¼ lb turnip (rutabaga) 115 grams
- ¼ cup minced onion 60 grams
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 egg, well whisked for brushing and sealing
- unsalted butter for dabbing on top of filling
- flour for rolling pastry and sprinkling over filling
Instructions
- Prepare pastry by combining flour, salt, butter and lard in food processor. Pulse in short bursts until mixture resembles large crumbs.
- Add cold water in small amounts with short pulses between. When mixture is chunky but not completely combined, pour onto plastic wrap. Seal completely and press into a disk. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
- Cut beef against the grain into strips, then slice into small pieces.
- Peel and cube potatoes and turnip. Add to beef mixture. Mince onion and add to filling. Season with salt and pepper and combine.
- Divide pastry into 4 sections. Roll each section on a well floured surface into a circle just over 8 inches or 20 cm in diameter. Pastry should not be too thin. Using a plate or round flat template, lay on rolled out dough and cut into neat circle. Roll out, fill and seal each pasty before rolling out the next to prevent dough from drying out. Cover remaining dough while working on each pasty.
- To assemble the pasty, spoon about ¼ of the filling mixture on one half of the circle, leaving room at the edges for sealing. Top with 3-4 small dabs of butter and a sprinkle of flour. Brush outer edge of pastry with egg wash, fold pastry in half and press to seal. Roll pastry edge and squeeze to complete the seal and decorate edge.
- Lay completed pasties on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Brush generously with egg wash and cut 2 small slits in the top of each one to allow steam to escape.
- Bake on the centre rack of a preheated oven at 350° for 40-45 minutes until pasties are golden brown.
- Allow to cool at least 10 minutes. Can be eaten hot or room temperature.