Makes 6 large pasties — Adapted from Jamie Oliver's Great Britain
In the intro to his recipe Jamie Oliver says, "These traditional English pasties are guaranteed to put a smile on your face. The recipe isn't difficult at all, but please make sure you use skirt steak and chop up the meat and veg exactly how I've said to ensure that all the filling ingredients cook at the same time. One of these with salad, mustard and beer is pure happiness." I used chuck steak from one of our grass-fed steers rather than skirt steak, and it worked perfectly.
I mixed up my pastry crust in the food processor, and I used half organic butter and half lard that I rendered down from one of the locally raised hogs we recently had processed. Yum. Using all butter and mixing the dough by hand will work too. Either way, don't overwork the dough. You want all the filling ingredients chopped up the same size. Grab a ruler and do a little test measure when you start chopping; 1/3-inch is small.
Ingredients:
For the pastry:
3¾ cups organic all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (8 ounces/2 sticks) very cold organic butter, diced (or 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup good quality lard)
3/4 cup ice water (you may not need it all)
For the pastry egg wash:
1 large free-range egg and 2 Tablespoons milk, beaten
For the filling:
12 ounces raw beef skirt steak or chuck steak, preferably naturally raised and grass-fed, cut into 1/3-inch dice
2 cups 1/3-inch diced yellow or white onion (about 7½ ounces)
2 cups peeled, 1/3-inch diced red or Yukon Gold potatoes (about 11 ounces)
2 cups 1/3-inch diced carrots (about 8 ounces)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
Instructions:
Make the pastry before you chop up the filling ingredients. Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the 'S' blade and briefly pulse them together. Add the butter and pulse at 1-second intervals until the largest pieces of butter are the size of chickpeas. Remove the lid, pour 1/2 cup of the ice water evenly over the flour mixture, replace the lid, and pulse a few times. Add just enough more ice water so that the dough holds together when you press it between your fingers. Do not overmix.
Pour the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap, gently pat it together using the edges of the plastic wrap to help you, then flatten it into a large flat disc or rectangle (I find it easier to divide it into six equal pieces if it's a rectangle). Wrap it tightly in the plastic and refrigerate it while you make the filling. (You can make the dough several hours ahead of time, or the day before, if desired. Refrigerate until ready to use.)
Pour the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap, gently pat it together using the edges of the plastic wrap to help you, then flatten it into a large flat disc or rectangle (I find it easier to divide it into six equal pieces if it's a rectangle). Wrap it tightly in the plastic and refrigerate it while you make the filling. (You can make the dough several hours ahead of time, or the day before, if desired. Refrigerate until ready to use.)
Heat the oven to 400°F. Combine the chopped beef, onion, potatoes, and carrots in a large bowl. Add the salt, pepper, olive oil, thyme, and rosemary and mix well. Set aside.
Cut the pastry into 6 equal pieces and shape each one into a flat disc. On a lightly floured surface, gently roll each piece of pastry into a 9-inch round (I love my Vic Firth maple French rolling pin). If the dough starts to stick to the work surface or your rolling pin, sprinkle it with a small amount of flour.
Place about 1 cup of filling on each round, either in the middle if you want to bring both sides of the pastry up and together, or on one side so you can pull the other side of the pastry over to make a semi-circle (both are traditional Cornish pasty shapes). Use your hand to compact the filling a little, brush the edges of the pastry with the egg wash, and then seal them together. If you're making semi-circles, you can decoratively crimp the edge of the pasties with a fork or your fingers.
Place the pasties on a heavy duty baking sheet lined with unbleached parchment paper (I could only fit four pasties on one of my commercial baking sheets), brush them all over with the egg wash, and bake until golden brown about 40 to 45 minutes. I baked mine in two batches, but if you trust your oven you can try using two oven racks at once, rotating the pans halfway through baking.
Serve pasties hot, with mustard on the side. They will keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator and will also freeze well. Reheat in the oven or microwave.
Recipe source: FarmgirlFare.com
http://www.farmgirlfare.com/2012/11/recipe-jamie-olivers-traditional.html
