This recipe was shared with me by a friend, whose husband is British. My friend learnt the recipe from her mother in law. It was interesting to see how my friend measured flour for the pastry dough, she had a ladle in her kitchen which she used to measure the flour. I asked her if she had it measured to a cup and she said she just estimated it. When I tried the recipe for the first time in my kitchen, I combed my kitchen for a ladle that looked the same shape and size. The recipe turned out perfect, subsequently I have used the same ladle to make the pastry dough. Recently I made this recipe with my ‘famous ladle’ and measured out the flour in cups to write a recipe with universal measures.

Enfolding meats and vegetables in some pastry or dough is a cooking practice that appears in many different cultures of the world. Hand pies or pasties are an addition of the same idea - ranging from Cornish pasties from England, to Samosas from India, Empanadas from Spain, and so on. These hand pies/ pasties make a great snack, party food and are also great for picnics. They are perfectly transportable food. I make then often for my husband and son to carry for lunch.

Cornish Pasty is one of my favorite versions of hand pies as it uses raw meat and vegetables which cooks with the dough in the oven. It requires less prep work and is faster to make compared to the other varieties. I am sharing the original version of the recipe here with you, but I have adapted it many times depending on the crowd I feed. Make it completely vegetarian or try lamb instead of beef. It will taste good with all the variations and you should know that since there is flaky pastry involved. I hope you give this recipe a try.

Total time – 80 minutes

Active time – 45 minutes

Yields –8 pieces

INGREDIENTS

Dough

• 3 cups Flour
• Pinch of salt
• 10 tbsp cold butter (small cubes)
• ½ cup or just enough cold water to make dough

Filling

• ¼ cup onion chopped
• ¼ cup leeks chopped
• ½ cup potatoes diced (¼ inch dice size)
• ½ cup swede/rutabaga diced (¼ inch dice size)
• ½ cup beef skirt (¼ inch cubes)
• Salt to taste
• Pepper (freshly ground) to taste
• 1 Egg (lightly beaten)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. First to make the shortcut pastry, place the flour, butter, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
2. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, working as quickly as possible to prevent the dough from becoming warm.
3. Add the cold water in intervals until the dough binds together. Alternatively, the dough can also be made in a food processor.
4. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and chill in refrigerator for atleast 20 minutes.
5. In the meantime, prepare your filling mix, do not add the salt and pepper until you are ready to start filling else it starts losing water.
6. Line a baking tray and preheat the oven at 400 degrees F
7. Divide the pastry equally into 8 balls and roll each piece into rounds roughly 6-7 inches wide.
8. Season the filling now.
9. Divide the filling in 8 and spoon on one half of the disc.
10. Fold the circle in half over the filling so the two edges meet.
11. Crimp the edges together to create a tight seal.
12. Place the pasties on a lined baking tray and brush each pasty with the beaten egg.
13. Poke the pasties with a fork or make a slit on top of each one.
14. Bake the pasties for 30 mins until golden.