Today I decided to make some savoury pasties. I have a new tool that I thought would work very well for shaping the pasties. I chose cheese and onion, with potato, as the filling.
So what I needed was a nice shortcrust pastry, though puff pastry would have been fine too. It is just that I prefer shortcrust for pasties.
The recipe is actually very simple, but it just takes a little time from start to finish.
I dont really like cooked cheese, so I didn’t taste the pasties, but I was able to try the pastry on one of the small ones. The pastry was fantastically light and flaky, due to the lard. I know the full pasties will taste great too, and are ideal warm or cold.
Cheese & Onion Pasties
Ingredients:
- 400g plain flour
- 300g potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes.
- 300g grated cheddar cheese, I used medium, but strong would be fine too.
- 2 small onions, chopped
- 1 tsp English mustard powder.
- 100g butter, cubed and chilled
- 100g lard cubed adn chilled
- 1 medium egg(large in USA), beaten
- 1 extra egg, for an egg wash.
- 4-6 tsp ice cold water.
Method:
- Place the potatoes in a saucepan with some water and bring to the boil. Let them simmer for about 10 minutes.(If you wish to mash the potatoes you should boil them for longer)
- Drain the potatoes and set aside to cool.
- In the bowl of a food processor place the flour, lard and butter.
- Pulse until the mixture has turned into a fine breadcrumb texture.
- Add the beaten egg and pulse to mix it in.
- Add 3 tablespoons of water and pulse until the mixture clumps together.
- Take out of the processor and place on a slightly floured work surface.
- Pull the dough into a disc and cover with plastic wrap and then chill for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place the potatoes and onions into a large bowl, mix together and sprinkle the mustard powder over the top.
- Add the cheese and mix together again. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/400F
- Line a couple of baking trays with parchment paper, or silicone mats.
- Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out to about 1/4 inch thick.
- Cut circles of the diameter you wish, I did 6 inches/15cm(then I did some smaller ones too).
- Place some of the filling into the middle of the cut out pastry, leaving a gap around the edge. (don’t over fill or you will get leakage – which i did on a couple of mine).
- Brush the edge of the pastry with egg and then fold one edge over the filling and press down onto the other edge.
- Press the edges together with a fork to make a pattern.
- Brush the top with egg wash.
- Make a hole in the top to allow steam to be released during baking.
- Place the pasties onto the baking trays and bake in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the pastry is cooked and a nice golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.
- These pasties can be frozen, either before or after baking.
these pasties are delicious!