One of my favorite things to eat is a pasty. I know it’s naughty and I really shouldn’t indulge in buttery pastry too often, but it’s just so yummy that I can’t resist. I went on holiday to Cornwall one year and ate nothing but Cornish pasties for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a whole week. Needless to say that I looked like a pasty when I got back from holiday, and weighed considerably more than when I went away, but they are so yummy and so moreish!
Anyway, enough about my pigging out – this blog post is about using up your Christmas leftovers by turning them into a pasty. I’m cooking this today because some of my family are coming round for festive nibbles tonight and this will be the ideal grab-and-go dinner to serve. Here’s the pastry recipe and below is the filling:
Put 225g plain flour and a pinch of salt into a bowl and rub in 100g butter or margerine. Using a knife to cut and stir, mix in enough cold water to form a stuff dough. Turn dough onto a floured surface and roll out before using a saucer as a template to cut out circle for the pasty base.
For the filling, dice and brown off 100g braising beef, or leftover turkey in this instance. Add a diced onion and fry until browned. Dice up leftover potatoes (or dice and boil fresh potatoes until slightly tender) and add to the meat. Add a handful of peas or any other leftover veg chopped into small pieces, then season with salt and pepper and I like to add spoonful of wholegrain mustard. If the filling is too dry for your liking, you can add a little leftover gravy to the mix. Spoon this filling into the center of the pastry circles, brush milk around the edge and fold it over. Brush all over with milk and crimp the edges together using a fork and add a couple of holes into the top for the air to escape while baking. Cook in the oven at 180 degrees for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and hot in the middle.
