Vegetable pasties

Vegetable pasties can be a great weekend meal, that are also perfect for lunch boxes of after-school snacks. It is easier than you might think to make your own shortcrust pastry, but you can always use store-bought pastry instead. Baking the vegetables gives them a nicer flavour. You don’t traditionally pre-cook the vegetables for Cornish pasties (with meat), but it does add to the flavour to do so. VEGETABLE PASTIES

Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 90 mins
Makes: 4 large pasties or 16 small pasties

Ingredients

• 1 brown/yellow onion, finely diced
• 2 carrots, peeled & diced
• 400g/¾ pound of sweet potato/yams, peeled & diced
• 500g / 4 potatoes, peeled & diced
• 40ml / 2 tbsp of olive oil
• salt
• 300g of plain flour
• 1 tsp of salt
• 150g of unsalted butter, cold, diced
• 80ml / 4 tbsp of water
• 1 cup of frozen peas
• extra flour for dusting the surface
• 1 egg, lightly beaten, for glazing
• tomato sauce/ketchup or tomato chutney to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC / 350ºF / Gas mark 5. Line 1–2 trays with baking/parchment paper. Keeping the vegetables separately (except the onion), place on the paper and share the diced onion between them. Drizzle vegetables with olive oil and add a pinch of salt to each tray.
2. Place trays in oven and bake until cooked through (some vegetables might take longer than others) for about 40 minutes.
3. In the meantime, make the shortcrust pastry in a bowl by combining the salt and the flour, then rubbing in the butter until you get the consistency of fine breadcrumbs.
4. Add in the water and mix together to form the dough. From into a rectangle shape, then wrap in clingfilm and place in the refrigerator until ready to make the pasties.
5. When the vegetables are cooked and cooled, add the peas, and press some of the vegetables together with the back of a fork.
6. Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and then flour a surface. Cut the dough in half and return half to the refrigerator. Roll the dough out to 2mm/1/8″ thick. For small pasties, use a small bowl or cutter (12cm/4″) for size, turn it upside down and cut out 8 circles. For larger pasties, use a side place (approx 20cm/9″) and cut 2 rounds.
7. Spoon enough mixture in the centre of each round, to fill each round (it will take less filling than you think), then brush one half of the edge with egg wash, and fold in half. Bring the edges together and pinch and seal. Stand the pastie up and place on a baking tray with baking/parchment paper. Brush with egg wash. Repeat for remaining pastry and mixture.
8. Turn the oven up to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas mark 6. Place the pasties in the oven for 15–20 mins.
9. Remove from oven and serve immediately with tomato sauce/ketchup or chutney.
10. If freezing some for later, set aside to cool and then freeze.

TIP
Make Cornish pasties by adding 200g of beef mince/ground beef to the vegetables, which you would dice finely.