Holy hell – they have a Cornish Pasty Society in the UK. Whilst this recipe is mainly snaffled from their site (check their guide to “crimping”), I’ve added a few little bits of my own and made it LowSodium.
Pastry Ingredients
(rough store-bought puff can also be used):
- 500 g strong bread flour (it is important to use a stronger flour than normal as you need the extra strength in the gluten to producestrong pliable pastry)
- 250 g Cornish butter.500 mls crem whisk in a food processor. I add chilli flakes, garlic powder and chilli powder to taste and toa dd that extra kick.
- 175 ml cold water
Filling ingredients
- 450 g good quality beef skirt, cut into cubes
- 450 g potato, diced
- 250 g swede, diced
- 200 g onion, sliced
- 1 tspn basil pesto
- 3 teaspoons full of parmesan (Low sodium version)
- Pepper to taste (2:1 ratio)
- Beaten egg or milk to glaze
Method
- Rub the two types of fat lightly into flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add water, bring the mixture together and knead until the pastry becomes elastic. This will take longer than normal pastry but it gives the pastry the strength that is needed to hold the filling and retain a good shape. This can also be done in a food mixer.
- Cover with cling film and leave to rest for 3 hours in the fridge. This is a very important stage as it is almost impossible to roll and shape the pastry when fresh.
- Roll out the pastry and cut into circles approx. 20cm diameter. A side plate is an ideal size to use as a guide.
- Layer the vegetables and meat on top of the pastry, adding plenty of seasoning.
- Bring the pastry around and crimp the edges together (see our guide to crimping).
- Glaze with beaten egg or an egg and milk mixture.
- Bake at 165 degrees C (fan oven) for about 50 – 55 minutes until golden.
