Cornish Pasty
Ingredients (makes 2 very large ones):
300 grams of beef skirt
1 medium onion, finely chopped
300 grams of finely diced swede aka rutabaga
300 grams of finely diced waxy potato
Freshly ground sea or rock salt
Freshly ground black pepper (this is a must and should not be replaced with anything else)
500 gram packet of ready made puff pastry
2-3 egg yolk for brushing and making the dough stick together
White flour for rolling out the puff pastry
Method:- Have your butcher prepare the beef skirt, carefully removing all fat, gristle and membrane. The whole skirt will be enough for about 4 or 5 very large pasties.
- Cut the meat into thin strips across the grain. This is important as it will make the meat much more tender. The strips should be about 5 mm, by 5 mm, by 12 mm (approx. 1/4" by 1/4" by 1/2").
- Peel and chop the onions and set aside.
- Peel and thinly slice the swede. Make sure it is no thicker then 3 mm. Then cut into 5 mm wide strips and ultimately cut again to about 10-12 mm long (1/2") and set aside.
- Peel and cut the waxy cooking potatoes to the same size. Rinse and leave to dry on a towel.
- Separate the yolk from the egg white and stir until it is creamy (only use two eggs for now. If need be you can do the third one later).
- Preheat the oven to 180 C.
- If the store-bought puff pastry came in a square pack, try slicing it through its height, retaining the shape. This is important since you must NEVER knead puff pastry to get it into shape.
- Spread some flour on the worktop and roll out half the puff pastry. Try to make it go as round as you can, but if it stays square, that's not a problem. Once rolled out it should be about 10-12" in diameter.
- When adding all ingredients make sure you leave a 1" edge of the dough uncovered.
- Sprinkle half the onion onto one half of the dough.
- Season with freshly ground sea or rock salt and black pepper.
- Sprinkle half the swede on top of the onion.
- Season with freshly ground sea or rock salt and black pepper.
- Sprinkle half the potato on top of the swede.
- Season with freshly ground black pepper. Do not use salt on the potatoes as it will make water leak out from the flesh.
- Evenly distribute one half of the meat strips onto the potato.
- Season with freshly ground sea or rock salt and black pepper.
- Brush the edge of the dough with plenty of egg yolk.
- Fold over the empty half of the dough and press down to seal.
- Fold part of the edge over and crimp the edges using your thumb and index finger. This will give you small indentations that will help keep the pasty together and seal in all the moisture and flavour.
- Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
- Brush liberally with egg yolk. If needed, use the third egg now.
- Place in the oven and bake for approx. 1 hour. Check if all the vegetables are soft by sticking a skewer into it after this time. The swede may require longer cooking depending on how fresh and tender it was originally. Maximum cooking time I ever had was 90 minutes.
- Remove from oven, leave for at least 25 minutes to cool down or you WILL burn your mouth.
- Cornish Pasties are traditionally eaten with your hands.
Variation (for experienced Cornish Pasty cooks only):- Prepare only half of the savoury ingredients and place them only on one quarter of the pastry.
- On the other side place coarsely chopped cooking apple, preferably Bramley, adding some sugar and cinnamon if liked.
- Proceed as in the main recipe.
- This makes a truly original traditional Cornish Pasty, where farmers and miners would have the savoury half in one meal and the sweet half as a desert at a later stage.
- The ultimate multi-course finger food ever.
Notes:- This recipe may sound complicated but it isn't. It is one of the easiest pasties you can make. The ingredients are cheap and apart from the cooking time it requires hardly any time preparing this.
- Cornish Pasties are now of protected origins, see the link to the Cornish Pasty Association for more information.
- The ingredients given are the ONLY ingredients permitted to be used. Carrots, peas and all sorts of other stuff have no place in a Cornish Pasty.
- The same applies to higher quality meat. Rump, sirloin or rib eye may be wonderful, but there is a time and a place for everything, just not in a Cornish Pasty.
Storing and reheating:- Both cooked and uncooked this will keep a couple of days in the fridge.
- Wrap in foil and place in a cold oven, heating it to 150 C for approx. 30 mins. but it may be eaten cold.
- Do not freeze the uncooked product, as the vegetables will deteriorate.
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