I’ve gone for Cornish pasties to represent England in this year’s World Cup cook-off.
Yes, it’s a shameless crowd-pleaser, but I suspect that England needs all the help it can get – both in the kitchen and on the pitch.
Strictly speaking, if it’s not made in Cornwall, it’s not a Cornish pasty.
But if I’d made these in Penzance instead of London, I think they might pass muster.
- A traditional filling of beef, potato, swede and onion, seasoned with salt and pepper – check.
- Filling uncooked when folded into the pastry – check.
- The required D-shape, with a side (not centre) crimp – check.
The Cornish pasty recipes I looked at were all pretty similar. These are adapted from this one by the Hairy Bikers.
Cornish pasties
(makes 6)
For the pastry:
- 450g plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 125g cold butter, diced
- 1 egg, beaten
- 125ml cold water (approximately)
For the filling:
- 450g potato, peeled and cut into a ½cm dice
- 150g swede, peeled and cut into a ½cm dice
- 150g onion, finely chopped
- 300g beef skirt, chopped into ½cm pieces
- 1 Tb flour
- salt and pepper
- butter
- 1 egg, beaten
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Rub in the butter with your finger tips.
- Make a well in the mixture and pour in the egg. Stir with a fork until the mixture starts to come together. Slowly add water, and continue stirring until a ball of pastry forms. Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and chill for an hour.
- Toss the vegetables together in a bowl and season with salt and black pepper.
- In another bowl, sprinkle a tablespoon of flour over the chopped beef, season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Divide the pastry into six equal portions. Roll a pastry portion into a circle about 8″ (20cm) in diameter.
- Place a sixth of the vegetables and a sixth of the beef on one half of the circle, leaving half an inch (1cm) round the edge. Dot with butter.
- Brush the edge of the pastry with water. Fold the pastry over the filling and press the edges together, then roll and crimp. Transfer to a baking tray.
- Brush the pasty with beaten egg, then make a steam hole in the centre with a knife.
- Bake the pasties for about 45 minutes, or until crispy and golden brown. Cool for ten minutes before eating.
Ten More Bites 
Andrea, you are risking certain deportation from Cornwall if you ever visit there. The Cornish do not consider themselves English 🙂
Have a look! https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/apr/26/survival-of-cornish-identity-cornwall-separate-place
Nice recipe btw
Living dangerously indeed…;-) Not quite as reckless as posting Welsh rarebit to represent England four years ago. (Don’t know what I was thinking with that one!)
Just remember not to make a Scotch Egg if Scotland ever qualify for the World Cup 🙂
Top tip…;-)
You made me look up “Swede”. Going to make this dish anyhow 😊
Do we have them in Canada? Can’t remember ever eating them…
Andrea, came across this when looking for instructions on crimping the pasty edge. My grandfather was born in Cornwall and came over to the US as a child. I’ve eaten these for holidays all my life. But neither my grandmother nor my mom made an effort to crimp them nicely. And they used round steak, a very cheap cut of meat. I make them with sirloin, t-bone or ribeye. No swedes (or rutabagies as my mom called them). Just potatoes, onions, pat of butter, salt and pepper. They are heavenly. Now the big question is gravy or tomato ketchup?
That is so interesting – I love the way recipes travel and evolve. My grandparents emigrated to Canada from the the Midlands in the 1920s and remained very British in their ways. We grew up eating a traditional pork pie for Christmas breakfast. I assumed was the English custom until I moved to the UK, and discovered that nobody did that (at least not any more). And for me, definitely HP sauce, not ketchup or gravy 🙂