I love pasties, and I love pesto, (and Joshua does too) so I thought I’d combine both delicious foods and make pasties with a vegetable, cheese and pesto filling. I filled the pasties with vegetables I had lying around - potato, carrot, courgette and roasted peppers - but you could use whatever ingredients and flavours you fancy. I used shortcrust pastry, but puff pastry would work just as well. The ingredients I used were... - pre-rolled shortcrust pastry - potato, cubed - carrot, cubed - courgette, grated - roasted peppers (pre-bought), chopped - cheddar cheese, grated - mozzarella, chopped - chopped tomatoes (1-2 tbsp to add moistness) - red pesto (approx 1tbsp) - egg, beaten, to glaze - optional (you could use milk instead, or nothing at all) To make the filling... - boil or steam the carrot and potato (or any hard or root veg) until just soft - grate the courgette and chop the roasted peppers - mix the vegetables with the grated cheddar cheese, chopped mozzarella, a couple of spoonfuls of chopped tomatoes to add moistness and a spoonful of pesto To assemble and cook... - flour your surface and roll out the shortcrust pastry a little thinner - cut out circles of the pastry using a cookie cutter, glass or bowl - 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 water to 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 beaten egg or milk to give a golden finish (optional) - bake at 180’C for 20-30 minutes until golden Eat fresh, refrigerate or freeze, warming through in the oven before serving. Enjoy x
