An Easy Recipe for Pasties
How to Make Pasties at Home and the History Behind Them
The pasty can be dated back to at least the Middle Ages. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer mentioned them as “pouches of dough that were small and portable”. A letter survives from the early 1500s from a baker to Jane Seymour (Henry VIII’s third wife) that hopes “this pasty reaches you in better condition than the last one” (Reported in The Observer, 21 April 2007).
It is believed that Cornish miners are responsible for the growth of the pasty recipe, leading to it later being called a “Cornish Pasty”. It had a filling of meat and vegetables in one end and jam and fruit in the other, providing a main course and dessert for the hungry miners. The thick pastry crust kept the filling in and kept it hot for hours, leading to miners placing it near the body to keep warm in the winter. The pasty makes a perfect “on the go” food – miners would hold it by one end at the crust and eat the pasty, leaving the last piece where their fingers touched. This ensured that firstly, they did not accidentally eat the harmful compounds they had touched in the mine (tin or copper dust) and secondly, that they had an offering for the mischievous folk they believed lived in the mines, to ensure continuing good luck.
Pasties are incredibly easy to make at home, especially since pastry can be bought ready made and rolled. The Cornwall Guide reports that the Devil would not come to Cornwall in fear of being put into a pasty, indicating that with the fillings – anything goes! Make some, bake them and then freeze any spare. Take one out to defrost the night before and put in your packed lunch or picnic, or heat up and serve with vegetables and mashed potato or chips for a delicious meal!
How to Make Pasties
Ingredients
- Block of shortcrust or puff pastry defrosted if frozen
- Plain flour for dusting
- Filling of your choice (see "Notes and Variations" below)
- 2 eggs, beaten
- Milk
Method
- Take one block of pastry and dust the work surface with a little plain flour to stop it sticking. Roll out to a thickness of around 5mm.
- Take a small saucer and use it to cut circles from the dough. Re-roll the leftover pastry until you have used it all up.
- Put a few tablespoons of filling onto one side of the circle - not too much or it will leak out of the sides. Wet the edge of the circle with a little water and fold over to make a half-moon shape. Press down the rounded edge with a fork to seal.
- Mix the beaten egg with a splash of milk and brush over the pasties to glaze.
- Bake in a 180C oven for around 20 minutes until the filling is piping hot and the pastry is browned and risen.
Notes and Variations
Experiment with different fillings. Meat, potatoes and other root vegetables are traditional, but try chicken and mushroom, leftover stews, curry and even cheese, onion and potato. Pasties are great for using up leftovers and are therefore economical to make. Just make sure that on reheating they are piping hot in the middle.
The Cornish miners’ wives never had ready to roll pastry available in the supermarket, we are lucky that we do! Take the opportunity to make some pasties and use them for days out, packed lunches or just for dinner. Easy to make, cheap and delicious.
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