Traditional Cornish Pasties

Holidays by the sea, a pick me up after work, a trusty warm and delicious lunch when options are lacking - The humble Cornish Pasty.

The simple flavoursome beef and veg filling encased in flaky buttery pastry is like a warm hug on a cold day. They’ve been there for me throughout my life and I’m always up for getting one. I don’t often make these as, for a lunch option, they’re quite labour intensive. Although, as a dinner option with some mash and green veggies its definitely worth the effort. If I do make these, I freeze four of them and bake two for myself and my partner. Keeping them for a quick mid-week dinner in the future that feels like a real treat.

Ingredients - Makes 6

Pastry:
350g strong flour
150g plain flour
5g salt
125g unsalted butter, cold
125g lard, cold
170g water, cold

Filling:
250g good-quality beef, skirt or sirloin
350g potato, peeled - 1cm cubes (roughly 1 large potato)
250g swede, peeled - 1cm cubes (roughly half a swede)
150g onion, sliced (roughly 1 onion)
1 tsp salt/pepper
a few small cubes of butter
egg, for egg wash

Method:

For the pastry, place the flours and salt into a bowl. Cut the butter and lard into cubes and place into the flour. Rub the butter/lard into the dry ingredients using your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs. Gradually add the cold water until the pastry begins to form a ball. Tip the pastry, and any dry bits, onto your counter top and knead until it is all incorporated into a ball. Cut the dough in half, shape into discs, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

When your dough has nearly finished chilling, you can prepare the filling. Slice the beef into 1cm chunks and place into a large bowl. Add in the cubed potato and swede as well as the sliced onion. Generously season with salt and pepper before giving it a stir together.

Take one of the discs of pastry and roll out to approx. 3mm thick. Take a side plate measuring 20-25cm in diameter. Cut out three discs (you’ll need to re-roll the scraps) and set aside. Place these back into the fridge while you roll the next three discs from the remaining pastry. Line a baking tray with baking paper and set aside.

To assemble the pasties; place a disc of pastry onto your worktop and put a generous pile of filling into the middle (you want it generous enough to have a decent amount of filling, but not so much that you can’t close the pastry.) Season with another pinch of salt and pepper. Place 2 or 3 cubes of butter on top of the filling and brush the edges of the pastry with egg wash. Bring two of the sides of pastry up and press to join at the top. Press to seal along the remaining edges. You should have a sealed semi-circle. Lay the pasty down on its side and crimp the edges by pulling and tucking the edges over themselves.

Place onto the lined baking tray and continue with the remaining pastry. Using a sharp knife, cut two slits in the top of each pasty and brush with egg wash. Chill for one hour.

Here, you can either bake your pasties or freeze them. To freeze; simply put the tray of prepared pasties into the freezer. Once frozen, wrap individually and bake from frozen when needed. You may just need to add another 10 minutes onto the baking time.

To bake - bake at 170°C for 50 minutes - 1 hour, or until golden brown and sizzling.