How to make a Cornish pasty
8th September 2018
You can’t come to Cornwall and not have a Cornish pasty! But why not see if you can make them yourselves whilst staying with us? Not only is it a great thing to try with the kids on a rainy day, you’ll also have a great lunch!
Follow our recipe and let us know how you get on!
Ingredients
350g beef skirt
1 large onion
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
175g swede, peeled and diced
Salt and pepper
125g chilled butter
125g lard
500g plain flour
Water
1 egg, beaten
If you decide to save time, and reduce mess, you can always buy pre-made shortcrust pastry.
Method
To make the pastry
– Rub the butter and lard into the flour with a pinch of salt. You can do this by hand or use a food blender. Mix until it resembles breadcrumbs.
– Then add 6tbsp of cold water and combine until the mixture comes together as dough.
– Divide into four equal amounts, wrap in cling film and leave to chill for around an hour.
For the filing
– Preheat oven to 180C.
– Bring a pan of water to the boil.
– Add the chopped swede and potato and cook until tender. Then drain, refresh in cold water and set aside.
Creating your pasty
– Roll the chilled pastry out onto a clean, floured work surface.
– Cut a large disk from each piece of pastry using a dinner plate as a template.
– Share out chopped onion between the four discs of pastry. Arrange them in a line down the middle.
– Spoon the shopped steak on top. Then add the swede and potato on top.
– Season with salt and pepper to taste.
– Brush the edge of each pastry disc with some of the beaten egg.
– Fold one edge of the pastry over to the other side and crimp to seal the pasty.
NB: A Traditional Cornish pasty is crimped on the side. Watch this video to see how to crimp professionally.
– Brush the remaining egg over the top of the pastry and score a small hold in the middle of the pasty.
– Cook for around 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
Oggy, oggy, oggy! Oi, oi oi!
