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Cornish pasty

Three plates of cornish pasties. One pasty is broken and the contents is spilling out.

Cornish pasty

Name: Cornish pasty
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: Makes 4
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 125g chilled and diced butter; 125g lard; 500g plain flour plus extra; 1 egg beaten; 350g beef skirt or chuck steak, finely chopped; 1 large onion finely chopped; 2 medium potatoes peeled, thinly sliced; 175g swede peeled, finely diced; 1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper

Sara Buenfeld

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Makes 4

More effort

Prep: 25 mins

Cook: 55 mins

Plus chilling

A star rating of 3.9 out of 5.131 ratingsRate

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Reawaken childhood memories of summer holidays with Sara Buenfeld's eat-by-the-sea favourite, the Cornish pasty

Freezable

Nut-free

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Sara's tips for the perfect Cornish pasties:

I always make sure to chill the pastry for at least 20 minutes before rolling it out. This helps to keep the pastry crisp and makes it much easier to handle when shaping the pasties.
These pasties freeze perfectly, so once baked and cooled, I wrap them well and pop them in the freezer. When you fancy one, simply reheat from frozen in a moderate oven until piping hot throughout.
I always crimp the edges firmly to keep the filling sealed inside. If you're new to making pasties, don't worry if they don't look perfect; the most important thing is to keep the filling inside.

Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

For the pastry

125g chilled and diced butter
125g lard
500g plain flour

plus extra
1 egg

beaten

For the filling

350g beef skirt

or chuck steak, finely chopped
1 large onion

finely chopped
2 medium potatoes

peeled, thinly sliced
175g swede

peeled, finely diced
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper

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Nutrition: per pasty

kcal1174
fat68g
saturates35g
carbs114g
sugars7g

low
fibre6g
protein34g
salt1.96g

Method

step 1

Rub the butter and lard into the flour with a pinch of salt using your fingertips or a food processor, then blend in 6 tbsp cold water to make a firm dough. Cut equally into 4, then chill for 20 mins.
step 2

Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Mix together the filling ingredients with 1 tsp salt. Roll out each piece of dough on a lightly floured surface until large enough to make a round about 23cm across – use a plate to trim it to shape. Firmly pack a quarter of the filling along the centre of each round, leaving a margin at each end. Brush the pastry all the way round the edge with beaten egg, carefully draw up both sides so that they meet at the top, then pinch them together to seal. Lift onto a non-stick baking tray and brush with the remaining egg to glaze.
step 3

Bake for 10 mins, then lower oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and cook for 45 mins more until golden. Great served warm.

Sara Buenfeld

Sara was the former Food Director for BBC Good Food magazine and Editor on Easy Cook. She has written recipes for the brand and edited cookbooks on everything from slow cooker recipes to 30 minute meals to the Healthy Diet Plan meals. See more of Sara's recipes

Recipe from Good Food magazine, September 2008

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A star rating of 3.9 out of 5.131 ratings

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