How to make a Cornish Pasty!

Sorry not to have posted for a week, both Mr P and I have been struck down with the lurgy and food has been the last thing on our minds!

However, I really wanted to share with you all how to make a Cornish Pasty! I have been asked numerous times in the past and also wrote about it on the BBC food message board years ago, but since I now have my own blog I felt it only right that I did it "proper" with photos...

I have very fond memories of going to my Gran's at the weekend when I was younger and having her pasties for lunch, served with a glass of "pop" and Russian Cream for pudding (another traditional Cornish recipe). All of my female relations can make pasties and I used to love watching them make them when I was a child. It really is something that has been passed down to me. I have many Cornish girlfriends who have never even tried to make on! They aren't that hard, and they are cheap to do!
Even when I was at University at Scarborough 12 years ago, I used to get frustrated with what they used to sell in the canteen - A square puff pastry "pasty" with chopped carrots, mince and peas! No! I was that taken aback that I used to make the real deal for my uni friends and the caterers to show them what they were missing out on!

Anyway, it's Sunday, a nice day for whipping up a pasty or two. Mr P has gone to watch rugby and will no doubt be frozen solid by the time he gets home, so a hearty supper is in order - pasty and sweet tea... but Mr P is a veggie I hear you all cry! Fear not, I make a meat one for me and a quorn beef pieces pasty for him... easy!

Here's what you need (to make two large):
- 1lb pastry (I'm afraid I don't make my own as the butchers up the road sells shortcrust pasty pastry which is very good!)
- 2 potatoes, peeled
- half a swede, peeled
- one onion, chopped
- skirt beef, approx 75g per pasty, cut into rough 2cm pieces (if you want to do a veggie pasty, use quorn beef pieces, but fry them off first in some olive oil and half an onion)

1. 1/2lb pastry rolled out to 2-3mm thickness. Use a dinner plate as a template and cut around it with a sharp knife to give you a nice circle of pastry. Score a line just over half way on the circle. The smaller half is where your filling will go.

You can just see the faint "scored" line where the knife tip is pointing - the lower half of the pasty circle is where you will put your filling.

2. Next, get your potato, held in your left hand, and with a small vegetable knife, start to "chip" away at it to create 2/3mm thick slices of potato. Hard to describe, but you are making slithers of potato. I usually use one small - medium potato per pasty. Do the same with you swede. Again, with a small swede I find that 1/4 is enough. You should have two layers, like the photo below. You want to leave 1/4inch gap around the edge of the pastry to allow for sealing and crimping!



You can see the potato on the bottom and the swede on top... leave a 1/4 inch edge around the side for sealing it later on!



3. Next, layer your beef pieces on top of the swede and add your chopped onion as the final layer. I normally use half a small onion, but it's your preference. Season with a little salt and some black pepper. I like mine quite peppery. Place a little knob of butter on top.

When I do the veggie pasty, I allow the quorn beef pieces and onion to cool before placing them on top of the potato and swede layers otherwise you will get soggy pastry. You can also add cheese instead of quron beef as another veggie option.

4. With some milk and a pastry brush, brush around the 1/4 inch edge of the filling. Now comes the fun part! With your right hand, gently slide it under the pastry that has no filling on it, whilst resting your left hand against the filling, almost cupping it. This will stop your filling moving whilst you fold the pastry over your filling. Make sure that none of the filling has moved onto the 1/4 inch edge that you brushed with milk otherwise, when you come to crimp the pastry it won't be smooth. Once the pastry edges have been sealed, you will be left with a semi-circle shape. I tend to use the edge of my right hand to press down the pastry to seal it and shape the pasty. Gently turn the pasty around so that the straight edge is nearest to you.



I gently use my right hand, cupped, to shape the round side of the pasty. You want to keep the filling in a nice half circle shape.



5. Lightly brush a little more milk along the sealed edge of the pastry as this will help the pastry to stick together when you crimp the edge. Crimping is an art. The Cornish Pasty is crimped along the side as the Devon Pasty is crimped over the top. I used to spend hours watching my mother and my grand-mother crimp!

This is for right-handed people - start from the right hand side and gently fold over the corner...

Crimping is a two-handed job, but I was home alone and someone had to hold the camera!

Use your left thumb and finger to keep it in place, then use your right hand to bring over the next crimp.... it's hard to explain and hard to take a picture of when I am on my own, but it is like creating a plait... I am sure that there is a Youtube video out there that demonstrates it better! Anyway, as you continue to pinch down with your left hand and fold over with your right, you will work your way along the edge of the pasty...

And here is the finished product!

Nice and neat crimping - there are other methods that people use to crimp, but this is who I've been taught...

All you need to do now is put a little slit in the top of the pasty with a sharp knife - this will act as a steam hole, pop it onto a floured baking tray, brush with a little milk and pop them in the oven! I actually made mine in the morning and put them on a baking tray and left them in the fridge until 4pm. I always add pastry initials as well.

I have a fan oven, so I put mine in for 10minutes at 180C and then 35minutes at 150/160C. If you are using a normal oven or a gas oven, I'd increase the temperature slightly. They take 40-45minutes to cook.

Serve with a cup of hot sweet tea. I like mine with Tomato Ketchup and pickled onions... though I have known family members (not to name names!) who used to peel the top of the pastry off and pour in pickling vinegar and another used to add a dollop of clotted cream! Each to their own!

If you have any spare pastry left over, you can make mini sweet pasties - filled with jam or apple. Be warned, the insides get very hot, so allow to cool before you dive in!

I'll add a photo when you have come out of the oven and before we eat them all!

HERE YOU GO!