Introduction: Cornish Style Cheese & Onion Pasty
It uses a traditional pasty pastry which uses strong flour. The pastry has some stretch in it so the filling doesn't burst out but is still beautifully flaky (and tastes authentic). I have also thrown some feta cheese in there which is not authentic but it is lovely to come across a chunk of it.
I usually make double this recipe and keep a stock of them in the freezer ready for a quick homemade dinner or picnic.
Step 1: Ingredients
Recipe makes five 8-inch pasties & three 5-inch kids size pasties.
Pasty pastry,
450g strong white flour
large pinch salt (optional)
100g margarine (lurpak or similar hard variety)
110g hard vegetable fat / lard (if your not vegetarian)
175ml water
Filling
250g Waxy Potatoes (1/2 halved and sliced 2 mm thick)
150g Onions Roughly diced (1 medium sized onion)
100g Feta Cheese (1.5cm Cubes) Optional but highly recommended.
70g Cheddar Cheese (1.5cm Cubes)
70g Cheddar Cheese Grated
1.5 TSP Fresh Thyme
1 TSP Dijon Mustard
1 Egg to bind
White pepper to season
milk or egg to glaze
Step 2: Make Pastry
1. Put the flour and salt into a bowl.
2. Cut off a rub the margarine into flour.
3. Grate the Hard vegetable fat into the mixture and stir with a knife. trying to keep the gratings from clumping together but regularly mixing them into flour whilst grating.
4. Pour all the water in and stir until absorbed.
5. Knead the dough a tiny bit and shape into a ball. it should still look marbled with fats (this gives it the flakiness when cooked).
6. leave at least 30 minutes in the fridge before using. it should be completely cold before being rolled out.
Step 3: Make the Filling
2. In a big bowl mix combine the cheeses, potato, onion & Mix in the egg and mustard mixture.
Step 4: Assemble the Pasty
2. Move to a clean surface and Brush the edge with milk to help the pastry stick together.
3. Put a dollop of filling onto half of the disc of pastry.
4. Sprinkle a good pinch of white pepper over the filling.
5. Crimp the pasty together using the traditional technique is the key to making an authentic looking Cornish pasty. The technique cant really be described it is best shown in this you tube video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9NkKQY-Qvg. or just fold it over and seal with a fork.
Step 5: Bake the Pasties
2. Cooking time and temperature.
- Gas No 6 approx 50 min-1 hour,
- Electric 210 approx 50min-1 hour,
- Fan assisted 165 approx 40 mins