I had some left over pastry from making quiches recently so I decided to turn them into mini pasties. Pasty filling is normally a mix of cooked potato (mashed or cubed), vegetables, meat and cheese. I used random bits of veg and cheese from the fridge and I added curry powder instead of herbs to give a slightly different flavour, but you can use whatever you fancy. The ingredients I used were... - pre-rolled shortcrust pastry - the flesh of half a baked potato - peas (cooked) - sweetcorn (cooked) - beetroot (cooked and cubed) - spring onion, chopped - cheddar cheese, grated - mozzarella, cubed - curry powder
- egg, beaten (to seal and glaze) To make... - roll out the ready-rolled shortcrust pastry a little thinner - cut out circles of the pastry using a cookie cutter (mine was 8cm/3in across but you could use larger) - place a SMALL spoonful of the mix on the circle of pastry. Not too much - you don’t want to overfill or it will be difficult to seal the pastry and it will leak when cooking - wet the edge of half of the circle with a little egg wash using your finger or a pastry brush (this will help seal the pastry) - fold the pastry circle over so that it is a half moon shape - press the edges together making sure that no air is trapped inside - use the flat edge of a fork to push the edges of the pastry together to seal it - use a knife or toothpick to make a couple of holes in the top of the pastry to let the steam out - brush the pasties with milk or beaten egg to give a shiny finish and sprinkle with sesame seeds (optional) - bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and cooked through - (while baking check that the steam holes have remained open and re-pierce if required) (If you overfill then and they leek like mine did it doesn’t matter - just serve as they are or cut off the leaked bit!) Eat fresh, refrigerate or freeze, warming through in the oven before serving. Enjoy x
