The following recipe is a classic Cornish Pasty recipe. However, I have added garlic, which is not classis, but I am a garlic-holic, what can I say. I have also changed from pieces of beef to ground beef another non-classic ingredient. However, I believe it adds to the pasty.
The first mention of Cornish Pasty was in the 12th century in Cornwall under Henry the III. At that time it was consumed by the upper classes, royalty and the rich. It wasn’t until the 17th and 18th century that miners and others began to make and eat these pasties. This was partly out of convenience. Since miners had very dirty hands and couldn’t wash them for a meal, the pasty offered a barrier between the filling and the potential contaminates that were present from the mining process, such as arsenic. The miner would hold only the end of the pasty, eating the rest and discard the “handle”. Further, these were portable and easily carried. A simple pasty was the filling of choice encompassed with the pastry crust. Frequently the wives of miners would put the miners initials on the top of the pasty so that there would no confusion as to whose pasty was whose. Today at least 120 million Cornish Pasties are made each year and nearly 2000 people work in pasty production.
The classic Cornish Pasty received, from the EU in 2011, a “Protected Geographical Indication. It is to be filled with beef, potato, turnip (or rutabaga), onion and seasoned with salt and pepper, and then baked.
Trifecta Pasty
Ingredients
Dough
- 3 ½ cups King Arthur All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 5 oz unsalted butter very cold and diced
- 5 oz Leaf Lard very cold
- ⅔ cup Ice cold water
Filling
- 1 lb Prime Sirloin, cut into small cubes
- 1 lb New Red Potatoes, diced into ¼-½ inch pieces
- 8 oz rutabaga peeled and diced into ¼ inch pieces
- 8 oz Vidalia or sweet onions diced
- 1 garlic clove finely chopped
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Assembly and Cooking
- 12 pats Unsalted butter
- 1 Egg beathe with 2 TBS water
Instructions
Dough
- Place the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times until combined.
- Add the cold butter and lard and pulse a few more time until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add the water a bit at a time, pulsing between additions, until the mixture comes together. Do not over-mix of the dough will become tough and won't be flaky.
- Form the dough into a ball and flatten into a 1 inch thick dish, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
Filling
- Combine the sirloin, potatoes, rutabaga, onions, garlic, salt and pepper and mix well. Set aside.
Assembly and Cooking
- Remove the pastry dough from the refrigerator and roll out into a "log: shape. Cut this into 6 equal pieces.
- Wrap 5 pieces of dough, and using the 6th roll it out into and 8 inch circle about 1/8 inch thick.
- You can use a 8 inch plate for a guide. These can be made smaller, using a 4 inch cookie cutter.
- Divide the filling into 6 portions.
- Place the filling near the middle of the circle and add 2 pats of butter.
- Wet the edges and fold over the dough into a half moon shape and seal the edges.
- Crimp the edges with a fork.
- Place the pasties on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Cut a slit in the center of each pasty. LIghtly brush each pasty with the beaten egg mixture.
- Bake pasties for 40-50 mintues until golden brown in color.
- Remove and let cool. These can be eaten at room temperature or reheated in the oven.
