Cornwall Meat Pie Recipes

CORNISH PASTY

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, cover carrots with water. Bring water to a boil and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Let cool and slice. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl. Add butter, and rub to the consistency of coarse crumbs. Mix in water. If dough is sticky, add more flour.
• Roll dough out until about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out six circles, each about 5 inches round. Do not stretch the dough.
• Mix meat and vegetables together, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover half of each pasty base with the filling. Moisten pastry edges, fold pastry over the filling. Press edges together with a fork. Transfer raw pasties to a baking sheet, brush tops with milk, and make a small slit in each top to allow steam out.
• Bake at 450 degrees F ( 230 degrees C) for 10 minutes. Turn oven down to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and bake for 35 minutes.

CORNISH PASTIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix flour, salt and baking powder; cut in shortening until crumbly. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes., Preheat oven to 375°. In another large bowl, combine beef, onion, potatoes, turnips, salt and pepper. Divide dough into 4 equal portions. On a lightly floured surface, roll 1 portion into a 9-in. circle. Mound 1-1/2 cups filling on half of circle; dot with 1 tablespoon butter. Moisten edges with water; fold dough over filling and press edges with a fork to seal. Place on a parchment-lined rimmed 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Repeat with remaining dough, filling and butter. Cut slits in tops of pasties. Bake 50-60 minutes or until golden brown. (If desired, pour milk into slits halfway through baking time.) Serve with ketchup., Freeze option: Freeze cooled pasties in a freezer container. To use, reheat pasties on a parchment-lined baking sheet in a preheated 375° oven until heated through.

AUTHENTIC CORNISH PASTIES

Steps:

• To Make the Shortcrust Pastry: Place the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times until combined. Add the cold butter and lard and pulse a few more times until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water a little at a time, pulsing between additions, until the mixture begins to come together. DO NOT over-mix the dough or the pastry crust will be tough and won't be flaky. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before using (this is crucial). (Can be refrigerated for a few days or frozen for up to 3 months.)
• To Make the Cornish Pasties: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.Cut it into 6 equal pieces (rolling the dough into a log and then cutting makes this easier). Wrap and keep the other 5 pieces chilled in the fridge while you're working on one at a time. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface to a 8 inch circle that's about 1/8 inch thick. You can use an 8-inch plate as your guide and cut the dough around it to form your circle.
• Layer the filling (see note at end): Put layer of potatoes down the center of the pastry circle, leaving about 3/4 inch space on the top and bottom edges of the pastry dough. Lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Next add a layer of rutabagas, onions and finally the beef, adding a light sprinkling of salt and pepper between each layer. Lay a couple pats of butter on top of the beef and sprinkle a little flour over the filling.
• Wet the tips of your fingers and lightly moisten the edges of the pastry dough. For this next part work gently so that the filling doesn't puncture through the dough. If this happens, patch up the hole with some of the scrap pieces of pastry dough. Bring the sides up and seal the pasty down the middle. Turn the pasty onto its side and crimp the edges in traditional Cornish fashion (see blog post pictures as a visual).
• Assemble the remaining pasties and lay them on a lined baking sheet. Use a sharp knife to cut a slit in the center of each pasty. Lightly brush each pasty with the beaten egg mixture.
• Bake the Cornish pasties on the middle rack for 40-50 minutes until golden in color. Remove from the oven and let them sit for about 10 minutes (they will be very hot inside) before eating. They can be reheated in the oven (recommended for a crispier crust) or microwave. NOTE: Depending on how full you stuff the pasties you may have leftover filling. No worries, just fry it up together or add it to soup and enjoy it as a separate meal.

FRENCH MEAT PIE

Steps:

• Dissolve the Better Than Bouillon chicken into the hot water. Set aside.
• In a large pot or Dutch oven, over medium heat. Cook the onion and celery for about 5 minutes to slightly soften. Stir with a wooden spoon to not burn.
• Add the chicken stock mixture, ground pork, ground beef, and poultry seasoning. Cook over medium heat until the meat is cooked, about 20 minutes.
• Add the breadcrumbs, allspice, ground cloves, and black pepper. Stir to combine. Let cook another 10 minutes.
• Add salt to taste. Should only need a pinch of salt. (remember bouillon and breadcrumbs already have salt in them)
• Let cool completely. Add to unbaked pie shells. Either homemade pie crust or store-bought. Top with pie crust. Roll edges under and pinch around the entire pie. Use a sharp knife to slice a slit in the top of each pie.
• Brush with egg wash. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven until the crust is nicely browned. About 30 to 45 minutes.
• Makes two 9-inch pies.

PASTIES (HANDHELD MEAT PIES)

Steps:

• Brown meat with onion soup mix and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
• Peel, dice, and par-boil potatoes and carrots.
• Add potatoes, carrots, and peas to meat and mix.
• Roll out pie crust to about a 6" circle.
• Add ½ to 1 cup of the meat mixture to the pie crust.
• Brush a little water to one edge of the pie crust.
• Gently fold the crust over and seal with a fork or your preferred method.
• Place the pasties on an un-greased cookie sheet and brush with egg and cut two or three vent holes.
• Bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until done.

CORNWALL MEAT PIE

Steps:

• Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30-45 minutes, or until chilled.
• In a bowl or directly in your food processor, mix flour and salt together before adding in cold, cubed butter.
• Pulse for 10-15 seconds, or until mixture is crumbly and butter is the size of small pebbles.
• With the motor running, slowly drizzle in 2/3 cup ice water and pulse until dough ball begins to form. Note: if mixture is too dry, add more ice water, 1-2 teaspoons at a time.
• Once dough is formed, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and roll it into a large, flat rectangle.
• The key to the dough is to use both butter and shortening (lard is even better); this gives the dough its rich flavor and flakiness, while still keep it sturdy and easy to transport.
• While dough chills, combine beef with potato, turnip, carrot and onion, and season generously with salt and pepper, thyme and rosemary.
• Don't precook the meat. If you have enough veggies, and layer the meat on top of them, they will absorb the fat and flavor. If you do it correctly, your pastry shell will NOT get soggy.
• Preheat oven to 400º F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Remove dough from refrigerator and cut it into 6 equal pieces. On a floured surface, roll each piece out to an 8-inch circle.
• Spoon 1/2-2/3 cup beef mixture into the center of dough, then top with 1/2 tablespoon butter.
• Take the far edge of your dough circle and fold it over the beef, towards yourself, to form a half moon.
• Seal edges with a fork and repeat with remaining pasties.
• Transfer to lined baking sheet and brush the tops of dough with beaten egg.
• You don't have to bake them all at once. You can wrap in fil, then in lastic and freeze. Just defrost as needed and bake.
• Bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned, then lower oven temperature to 350º F and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Serve by themselves, with gravy, ketchup, or brown mustard.