The Great Cornish Pasty

We had such a fabulous sunny day here today! Perfect eating outdoors day. The Missionaries came over and helped Todd to trim the hedge and I thought I would bake them something filling for their lunch. Pasty's are perfect picnic food . . . filling, delicious and great for eating out of hand.



The pasty has been a staple food down South in Cornwall for a very long time. It's been known as many things through the years . .. . tiddy oggy was one name used and hoggen was another name, which was used in particular when they didn't contain potato.



Many things were used as fillings through the years . . . meats, fish, vegetables, eggs and sometimes you would have a savoury filling at one end of the pasty and a fruit filling at the other.



There are pasty shops all over the UK, where you can just about any kind of pasty you could want nowadays . . . steak and stilton, steak and ale, Lamb and mint, cheese and onion, to name but a few. (I confess to having a certain fondness for the steak and stilton ones and the cheese and onion ones. Oh so scrummy!!)



These here today are a traditional, no frills steak, potato, onion and swede pasty. (A swede is a rutabaga, but you could also use turnip.)



Delicious and tender meat and vegetables encased in a delightfully flakey pastry. They're not as hard to make as some would suppose, but are really quite simple to execute. What's not to like!!!



*The Great Cornish Pasty*
Makes 4
Printable Recipe

Buttery Puffed Pastry, all flakey and encasing a delicious filling of beef, potato, onion and swede. Perfect and totally portable!!!

1 3/4 to 2 pounds of puff or shortcrust pastry
1/2 pound of beef skirt or chuck steak, sliced into very thin strips
1 medium potato, peeled and thinly sliced and chopped
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 small swede, peeled and thinly sliced and chopped
1 ounce butter (2 TBS), melted
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 freerange egg, beaten

Roll the pastry out 1/3 inch thick. Cut into rounds approximately 8 inches in diameter. You will need 4. I find a sandwich plate is perfect to use as a template.

Place the potatoes, onions, swede and steak into a large bowl. Season with salt and generously with lots of pepper.. Drizzle the melted butter over all and mix well together.

Divide the filling between the 4 rounds, placing it just slightly off centre. Brush the edges with some beaten egg and fold one half of the pastry round over to cover the filling. Seal shut and then pinch and roll the edges from one edge to the other, giving it a bit of a rope effect. Place onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Pierce the tops in a few places and brush with beaten egg. Place into the refrigerator to ill for about 1/2 hour.

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Place the tray of pasties into the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Lower the heat to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4 and cook for a further 30 to 35 minutes until well risen and golden brown and the filling is cooked through and the vegetables are tender. You can shield with some foil if you think the pastry is getting too dark.

Serve hot or cold as you like. These are great picnic food!



There is a deliciously Creamy Fish Chowder cooking over in Oak Cottage today. If you are a regular reader of A Year From Oak Cottage, you will want to update your bookmarks, as the url has changed! Thanks!