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This recipe is for 4 good sized Cornish Pasties
METHOD
1. Pastry
Mix fat lightly into flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Add water and beat in a food mixer until pastry clears and 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.
Leave to rest for 3 hours in a refrigerator, this is a very important stage as it is almost impossible to roll and shape the pastry when fresh
2. Filling
Salt & pepper to taste( 2/1 ratio)
Clotted cream or butter (optional)
Chop the above finely then add to the rolled out circles of pastry raw. Layer the vegetables and meat adding plenty o f seasoning. Put your dollop of cream or a knob of butter on top. Then bring the pastry around and crimp together. Try practicing on a potato first or just flatten like a turnover and mark with a fork. Crimping is the secret to a true Cornish pasty but it really has to be taught it is almost impossible to describe.
HANDY HINTS
Use a good cut of BEEF eg. skirt. This is the underside of the belly of the animal. Its juice produces wonderful gravy, has no fat or gristle and cooks in the same amount of time as the raw vegetables.
Butter or cream gives the pasty that extra richness.
This recipe shows how you can have a go at making a pasty yourself at home. Cornish pasties were awarded the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) in 2011 and need to be made to the following specifications.
A genuine Cornish pasty has a distinctive ‘D’ shape and is crimped on one side, never on top. The texture of the filling is chunky, made up of uncooked minced or roughly cut chunks of beef (not less than 12.5%), swede, potato, onion with a light seasoning. The pastry casing is golden in colour, savoury, glazed with milk or egg and robust enough to retain its shape throughout the cooking and cooling process without splitting or cracking. The pasty is slow-baked and no artificial flavourings or additives must be used. And, perhaps most importantly, it must also be made in Cornwall.
The Cornish Pasty Association. Visit website for more details.