Vegetable and Cheese Cornish Pasties

Ingredients (Makes 8-10)

- For the pastry:
  - 400g plain flour
  - 200g chilled butter, 1 cm diced,
  - Pinch of salt
  - 4-6 tbsp chilled water

- For the filling:
  - 2 medium-sized onions
  - 2 cloves garlic
  - 2 carrots
  - 1 stick celery, trimmed
  - 150g swede
  - 150g potato
  - 100g cooked lentils or borlotti beans or frozen peas
  - 1tsp dried oregano or any fresh herb you might have – like rosemary or thyme
  - 100g goats’ cheese or cottage cheese
  - 150g grated Cheddar
  - Fresh or dried herbs: thyme, basil, chives, parsley
  - salt & pepper

"This recipe teaches some of the most important skills and principles of food and cooking. It’s also a good way of using up leftover cooked vegetables and cheese."

Barny,

Chef

Cegin y Bobl

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Method

To make the pastry:
- Sift flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut the fat into flour and use your fingertips to rub it in until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Sprinkle water evenly over mixture and mix lightly until dough comes together. Add a little more water if mixture is too dry. Bring mixture together and knead lightly of floured surface. Or use a food processor for 3 minutes.
- Shape the dough into a ‘cylinder’, wrap in cling-film and put it in the fridge.
To make the filling:
- Chop the onions, celery, carrot, swede and potato very small – about ½cm dice. Mince the garlic to a paste. Chop or grate the cheese.
- Put the onions, celery, carrot and garlic in a pan with a little olive or sunflower oil and sauté (gently fry) for about 20 minutes. Add the swede and potato and a splash of water and continue cooking (with a lid on to keep moisture in) until the potatoes and swede are soft – stirring occasionally so that the vegetables don’t stick. Add more water if you need to.
- Season well. Add the lentils or beans and herbs, mix really well until all the ingredients are well combined. Transfer to a bowl and leave to cool a little, add the cheese, mix well and refrigerate
To assemble:
- Cut the pastry dough into 6 equal-sized slices and roll them into flat discs of a 15cm diameter.
- Put some mixture in the middle of each disc. Don’t fill them too full – you can always put the leftover mixture in a soup.
- Moisten the edges of the pastry, fold the pastry over the mixture and press the edges together. To get that traditional pasty crust, roll the pressed-together edge in towards the middle to form a ridge. If you are doing this with children, get them to cut their initials with left-over pastry and stick them on their pasties
- Brush with a little beaten milk and egg mixture and bake at 185C for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.

Tips

Think about how you might turn the pasty into into an empanada or a samosa with spices instead of cheese

If making these with children in the classroom, why not cook across three sessions. Make and freeze the pastry in the first, make the and freeze the filling in the second, and then assemble and cook in the last session.

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