Autumn and Cornish Pasties

Flag of Cornwall

Autumn has to be my favorite time of the year. When the sun sets lower in the sky and seems to dust the earth in a golden glow, the crisp air carrying the vibrant leaves and all those wonderful warming dishes one can start to prepare...its magic!
Along with the end of the year harvest such as broccoli, kale and pumpkins one can also delight in late carrots, potatoes and swede (rutabaga). One of the dishes I like to make for a Sunday evening supper is a Cornish Pastie. As my family comes from the county of Cornwall in the west of England, I grew up feasting on this national dish. My aunt was by far the best at it and would start with a homemade shortcrust pastry stuffed with garden potatoes, onions, swede and local beef. The only accompaniment would be HP Sauce and salt and pepper. She would make them so large you would have to save half for the next days lunch, which was great as they were so good cold with a dollop of Colemans Mustard and a homemade pickled onion. (recipe to follow)
Pasties were originally made for the local miners by their wives. The sturdy shortcrust casing held up well and meant the men had no need for a knife and fork. One of the practices was to put apple in the end corner for a "dessert" effect. But most of the time the end corner was usually tossed as it was too sooty from the miners hands to eat!
Here I have included my families recipe for the Cornish Pastie. I make them a little smaller than my aunties as my children find them a little more manageable! You can also use store bought pastry to save time.

Makes 4 pasties.

For the short crust pastry:

14 oz plain all purpose flour

8oz butter chilled but not hard

4-6 tablespoons cold water

Place flour and butter with a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Rub until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Add water until the dough binds together. Wrap in saran wrap and chill for a minimum of 30 minutes.

For the filling:

One large potato peeled and diced

One medium onion diced

Part of a swede diced

1 lb stewing beef cubed

salt and pepper

Divide the dough into 4 sections and roll out on a lightly floured board to resemble a salad plate.

Then place some of the potato and swede down the middle first, topped with a small amount of onion then some beef. The beef should always be on the top as the juices will soak the vegetable as it cooks. Before pinching the crust together to enclose the filling generously sprinkle salt and pepper. Once the pastie is pinched closed send it to a greased baking sheet and glaze with a beaten free range egg. Repeat three more times. Send the pasties to a preheated oven at 375 for 1/2 an hour, then reduce heat to 350 for another hour. Serve with brussel sprouts or veg of choice.