Tinned Mince, Potato & Carrot Pasty

I think pasties get a bad rap!

  I admit I’ve eaten my fair share of pasties over the years and most of them have pastry that is too thick and a filling that is dry and flavourless.

Not these.

 I remember my Mum making pasties for my Dads “bait tin’.

 With a full-time job, four kids and a limited budget, my mum baked as much as she could using what we had in our pantry, for our meals and for Dad to have good food down the coal mine.

 I know this is where my love of the pasties comes from, and I know my Dad loved them too, although I can’t imagine being underground, in the dark while eating them with coal covered fingers!

 Making these with tinned mince and vegetables means most of the work is already done, leaving just the pastry and assembly, perfect for making ahead and freezing.

 Once the pasties have been assembled, freeze them individually so they won’t all stick together.

 When completely frozen, put them into an airtight bag and they’ll keep frozen for up to three months.

You don’t even have to defrost them when you’re ready to cook them.

 When it’s time to eat them, take them out of the freezer, brush with beaten egg and place them straight into a hot oven.

 Adjust the cooking time so that they’re piping hot all the way through.

 I’m not saying that these pasties will hold up to a miner’s coal covered hands, but they are definitely a winner for a family meal.

Go on, give it a go and enjoy your sweet life!

Brown and beautiful

What You Need

Pastry

•     350g Plain Flour (1 ½ Cups) - Plus extra for rolling out

• 150g Butter (2/3 cup) - Cold & Diced – See Tip Box

• Cold water- Approximately 6 tbsp. – See Tip Box

•     ½ Tsp Salt

•   1 Egg- Beaten for egg wash

About the correct size for a good pasty

Filling

•   1 Large Onion – Finely Chopped

•    1 Tin Minced Beef

•   1 Tin Potatoes – Drained & Diced Small

•     1 Tin Carrots – Drained & Diced Small

•    1 Tin Sweetcorn or Garden Peas – See Tip Box

•     1 Beef Oxo Cube

Give the filling a good mix

How It’s Done

 Pastry  

•    Place the flour into a bowl, add the salt, give it a mix with a fork.

•   Place the cut-up pieces of butter into the bowl along with the flour and salt.

•     Use your finger tips to rub the butter and the flour together until the mix looks a little like bread crumbs. 

•     Once the butter is rubbed into the flour, start to add the water.

•     Add 6 tablespoons of cold water, using a blunt knife, mix it together.

•    Once the water starts to mix in, start using your hands to mix it until the flour and water comes together into a ball of dough.

•      If the dough isn’t coming together, or is too dry, add more water a little bit at a time. (1 teaspoon at a time).

•    Wrap the ball of dough in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Add a lot but don’t over fill

Filling

•    Chop the potatoes and carrots to around the same size and place them into a bowl– See Tip Box

•   Add the chopped onion, sweetcorn and tinned minced beef into the same bowl as the carrots and potatoes

•     Give them a mix

•     Crumble the oxo cube into the bowl and give it another mix

Crimp the edges of the pastry to eal really well

Assemble the Pasty

•      Heat the Oven to 180c

•     Line two oven trays with non-stick baking parchment

•    Unwrap the pastry and cut it into 6 pieces about the same size as each other.

•     Dust the work surface with a little bit of flour.

•   Roll one piece of pastry out to about 8 or 9 inches – See Tip Box 

•    Place a good heap of the filling into the centre of the pastry.

•   Use a pastry brush to wipe a little bit of water around the edges of the pastry

•   Fold the pastry over and gently join the two sides together.

•    Starting at one corner of the sealed pastry, start to fold or roll the edges of the pastry in on itself until its folded or rolled in all the way around.

•     Very gently, transfer the complete pasty onto the covered oven tray.

•    Repeat this process with the rest of the pastry pieces.

•    Brush all of the pasties with the beaten egg and place the trays into the hot oven until golden brown all over, approximately 20-30 minutes – See Tip Box

•   Once cooked, remove the trays from the oven and serve the pasty while warm or leave to cool completely and then serve.

Ready for the egg wash and a hot oven

Tip Box

•     Butter – 1) Butter should be cold from the fridge. If the butter isn’t cold, it will just melt with the heat of your hands.

• Cut it up into very small pieces so that it’s easier to mix with the flour.

• Cold water – How much cold water you use depends on a lot of things, so start by adding 6 tablespoons to begin with, mixing it with a blunt knife (so the butter doesn’t melt) and if you need more to bring it together, add more in very small amounts

•    Vegetables Diced Small – When things are cut to around the same size, it’s more likely that they will take the same amount of time to cook. Try to cut the potatoes and the carrots about the same size.

•    Sweetcorn of peas? – I used sweetcorn in this recipe but use whichever of these you like best.

•     Pastry – 1) When rolling out the pastry, try to keep it as round as possible, but don’t panic of it isn’t right first time. Try again by bringing it together into a ball, and give it another go. It doesn’t have to be perfect.

  2) When rolling out the pastry, don’t use too much flour on the work surface, too much flour will dry out the pastry.  

•    Cooking – All ovens vary so adjust cooking time accordingly.

Juicy, moist and delicious