Mollies Pasties Recipes

CORNISH COWBOY PASTIES

Steps:

• Marcy Tatarka, an absolutely lovely cook I met in Wyoming, was full of all sorts of local food knowledge. She told me that people in this part of America are really into their pasties! Turns out that in the 1920s and 30s, miners from Cornwall came over to work in Montana and it wasn't long before the locals developed a taste for the good old Cornish pasty. Their recipes haven't evolved radically since, but they do embrace local ingredients like chicken, squash and sage. Pastry isn't exactly health food, but a delicious pasty once in a while won't hurt you. If you like, you can make a slightly 'skinnier' pasty by reducing the butter to 200g and adding 50ml of olive oil. But frankly, if I'm making these I just go for it old-school style.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Bring your butter and water to the boil in a large pan, then take the pan off the heat. Stir the flour and 1 tablespoon of sea salt into the mixture bit by bit with a spatula, until you've got a dough. Tip it on to a floured surface and use your hands to shape it into a smooth ball. Put the ball of dough into a floured bowl, dust the top with flour, then cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes while you make the filling.
• Meanwhile, get a large pan and fry your chopped onion in a lug of olive oil for 10 minutes or until softened. Add the diced chicken and fry for 5 minutes until brown, then add the rest of the chopped vegetables and herbs. Fry for another 5 minutes, then add 3 or 4 good gratings of nutmeg. Season well with salt and black pepper, then pour in the chicken stock and Worcestershire sauce. Stir in the flour and simmer on a medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until most of the stock has cooked away and you're left with nice thick gravy.
• Dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with flour, then divide your pastry dough in half and roll each half out until it's slightly thinner than 0.5cm. Use a cereal bowl (about 15cm in diameter) to cut 4 circles out of each half, so you end up with 8 circles. You may need to cut out 2 or 3 circles from each half first, then re-roll the remaining pastry to make the rest. Dust the circles with flour, and spoon your filling into the middle of each one. Brush the edges of the pastry with some of the beaten egg, then fold each circle in half over the filling and crimp the edges with your finger and thumb to seal them. If you want to see how this is done, check out this video on how to assemble a pasty.
• Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper, scatter a handful of cornmeal or polenta over the paper, and place your pasties on top. Brush the pasties all over with more of the beaten egg and sprinkle over a little more cornmeal. Bake in the hot oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden, and serve straight away with a fresh green salad. A taste of Cornwall in the Wild West - who'd have thought it!

MOTHER'S PASTIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, carrots, onion, salt and pepper. Crumble beef and pork over potato mixture and mix well. Add butter and toss to coat; set aside. , For pastry, in a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until a ball forms. , Divide dough into five portions; roll each into a 10-in. circle. Place 1 cup of filling in the center of each circle. Fold pastry over filling and seal edges tightly with a fork; cut slits in the top of each. , Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 375° for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown.

EASY BEEF PASTIES

Steps:

• Before you begin measuring everything out, place the cubed butter in the freezer to chill.
• Stir together flour, sugar, and salt, and pour into the food processor. Add butter and pulse until butter is cut into the flour, but still has visible chunks.
• While pulsing, slowly pour in 1/2 cup of the buttermilk and continue to pulse until the buttermilk is incorporated into the dough. At this point, your dough should look like rough crumbs and hold their shape if squeezed together. If dough does not hold its shape, drizzle in a little more buttermilk, up to 2½ additional tablespoons, until it does. The dough will look a little scary at this point, but don't worry. It's supposed to look like that!
• Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on the counter and dump half of your dough crumbs onto the sheet. Gather the edges of the plastic wrap and press tightly together to form a 1-inch thick disk. Do the same with the rest of the dough. Place in a plastic bag and refrigerate for at least an hour, up to 24.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat (watch closely, you don't want to burn the butter) and add the meat. Cook until well browned.
• Add potatoes and carrots and cover with just enough water that the meat and vegetables are submerged. Add salt, rosemary, pepper, and oregano.
• Bring to a boil, turn down to medium and simmer for five minutes. Meat should be cooked through and potatoes should be softened, but still have a bit of a bite to them.
• Remove from heat and drain the cooking liquid into a separate container for later use. Set liquid and meat and veggies aside.
• In a medium saucepan, melt remaining 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add onions and cook until they begin to soften, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add flour and whisk continuously for 1 minute until a sticky paste forms and flour turns golden. Whisk in 1 cup of the reserved cooking liquid from your meat and potatoes (discard the rest). Simmer for 2 to 4 minutes, whisking continuously, until a thick gravy forms. Remove from heat and stir in the meat and vegetable mixture, making sure everything is well coated.
• Whisk together egg and milk in a small bowl to make your egg wash.
• On a well-floured surface, divide your dough into 4 to 6 equal-size pieces and roll into balls. If you are slow at rolling out pastry dough, place all the balls, but one, back in the fridge and work with one at a time so the dough stays chilled and easy to work with.
• Re-flour your work surface and roll first ball out to 3/8 inch thick with a floured rolling pin, forming as round of a circle as you can manage (trim edges with a knife to make a perfect circle if necessary). Pick up your dough to make sure it is not stuck to your work surface. If it is, use a metal spatula to dislodge it before filling.
• Brush egg wash around the edges of your pie crust to help seal it and spoon beef mixture over slightly less than half of the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Fold dough over the filling and use a fork to crimp the edges closed. Cut 3 slashes in the top and transfer to baking pan.
• Repeat with remaining dough balls. You may have a bit of meat mixture left over, depending on how thin you rolled out your dough. You can eat it with a spoon.
• Brush pasties with egg wash and and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until they are beautiful and golden.
• Allow to cool slightly and enjoy.

UPPER PENINSULA PASTIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, stir shortening and water until shortening is melted. Gradually stir in flour and salt until a very soft dough is formed; cover and refrigerate for 1-1/2 hours. , Cut potatoes and rutabagas into 1/8- or 1/4-inch cubes; do not make cubes too large or they will not cook properly. Gently combine ground beef and pork; break into small crumbles. In a large bowl, combine potatoes, rutabagas, onions, meat mixture and seasonings. , Divide dough into 12 equal portions. On a floured surface, roll out 1 portion at a time into a 8-in. circle. Mound 1-1/2 to 2 cups filling on half of each circle; dot with 1 teaspoon butter. Moisten edges with water; carefully fold dough over filling and press edges with a fork to seal. , Place on ungreased baking sheets. Cut several slits in top of pasties. If desired, brush with cream or beaten egg. Bake at 350° until golden brown, about 1 hour. Cool on wire racks. Serve hot or cold. Store in the refrigerator.

PASTIES II

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water until mixture forms a ball. Shape into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, combine meat, potatoes, onion, rutabaga and chopped carrots. Season with salt and pepper. Divide dough into six pieces, and shape into balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a 6 inch round. Place approximately 1 cup filling on one half of each. Dot each with 1 tablespoon margarine. Draw the other half of the pastry over the filling. Crimp edges to seal in filling. Prick with a fork and place on prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour.

VERY EASY CORNISH PASTY

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large frying pan.
• Soften the onion for about 5 mins, then add garlic and thyme and fry for another 2 mins on high temperature. Add the mince and fry for about 10 mins until browned, add potato and carrot fry for a couple of minutes then add flour, stir well and pour the beef stock over, add a pinch of salt and a generous pinch of freshly ground black pepper and stir some more. Reduce the heat, partly cover and leave to simmer for 30 mins, stir occasionally.
• When the filling is cooked, taste and add more salt and pepper if needed (make sure you add plenty of pepper )
• Then leave it to cool.
• Preheat the oven to 180C, line a baking tray with grease-proof paper.
• Roll out the pastry and cut into 3-4 circles of about 25cm diameter.
• Separate the filling in 3-4 portions and place each portion slightly to one side of each pastry circle, top it with few frozen peas. Apply egg around the edge, then fold it in a half and seal it. Place the pastries on the baking try and glaze them with egg.
• Bake them in the oven for about 30 mins.
• Cool them and enjoy warm or cold.

UPPER MICHIGAN PASTIES

Steps:

• Crust:.
• Pour the boiling water over the lard until the lard is dissolved.
• Add salt to flour and add this to the waterand lard.
• Mix this together until it forms a ball.
• Wrap in Saran Wrap and refrigerate overnite.
• Filling:.
• Combine the filling ingredients in a large bowl. Let sit and meld together, while rolling out the crust. This chilled dough will make 8 pasties.
• Take one of the dough balls and roll out on a floured surface, roll into a circle about.
• 1/8 inch thick. Do the same with all the dough.
• Put large cupful of filling on the crust; dab ice water around the edge of the crust to seal.
• Add a teaspoon of butter on top of the filling before sealing.
• Fold crust over top of filling like a turnover, and seal edges well.
• Place pasties on baking sheets and bake at 425°F for 15 minutes; then turn oven down to 350°F for 60 mimutes, or until nicely browned.
• When done, brush the top with butter.
• I serve with ketchup.

BEEF PASTIES

Steps:

• Cook Savoury Mince following the instructions in this post.
• Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F and a line two baking trays with baking paper or silicone mats.
• Remove puff pastry sheets from the freezer, seperate and allow to thaw partially.
• Use a round cookie cutter or a wide mouth mug to cut 4 rounds into each pastry sheet.
• Spoon a tablespoon or so of savoury mince into the middle of each pastry round, brush the edges with the egg wash then bring the edges together to form a semi-circle. Crimp the edges together with your fingers to seal the filling inside.
• Place pasties upright on the baking trays, and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until golden, puffy and cooked through.

PASTIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 160c for a fan forced oven or 180c for non fan forced.
• Seperate pastry sheets and defrost. Using the largest dinner plate that will fit on the pastry square, cut circles.
• Mix filling ingredients together and divide into 5.
• Place 1/5th of the mixture along the centre of a pastry circle, then moisten edges with water and bring together crimping to seal.
• Repeat with remaining 4 circles of pastry.
• Place on a baking tray and brush with the glaze; cut a small hole in pastry to allow steam to escape.
• Cook in preheated oven for 45 minutes or until golden.

BEEF PASTIES

Steps:

• For the filling: In a bowl, blend the bacon, beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, peas, garlic, salt, pepper, ginger and nutmeg, mixing well, ensuring not to break the peas. Hold cold until construction.
• For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Portion the pastry in 8 triangles, allowing the dough to soften. Next, brush the interior of the dough with egg wash. Fill with 2 to 3 ounces of filling. Bring the tip of the triangle to the edge to fold the sides and seal the pasties. Press the sides down to seal and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

MOLLIE'S PASTIES

Steps:

• Preheat over to 375 degrees.
• For the pastry: Measure flour and salt. Cut in lard until dough resembles small peas. Add water and divide into 6 equal parts.
• Roll dough thin to shape and size of pie plate. Pile potato, onion and 1/6 of the meat on only 1/2 the round of pie dough, and to within 1 inch from edge. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and dot with butter. Fold other half of the dough over the filling and crimp or roll the seams, sealing well. Cut slit in top of each.
• Transfer to parchment lined cookie sheet. Repeat for remaining dough and fillings.
• Bake for approximately 1 hour. Brush a little milk on top of each pastie while baking. Especially if utilizing lard in the recipe so that they take on a nice golden color. (If using lard, the dough will remain pale without the brushing of the milk)

BEEF AND POTATO PASTIES

Steps:

• Mix 2 1/2 cups flour and 1 tsp. salt in a large bowl. Cut 10 Tbsp. butter into cubes (it doesn't have to be particularly cold, just firm enough to cut into pieces). Work butter into flour with your fingertips until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Pour 3/4 cup boiling water over and mix with a wooden spoon. Knead with your hands until dough just starts to form.
• Turn out onto a clean work surface and knead until dough forms, about 20 seconds; roll into a ball. Divide into 4 portions, shape into rounds, and chill until ready to use.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix beef, potato, onion, pepper, and 1 tsp. salt in a large bowl.
• Roll out each round to a 9"-diameter circle on a lightly floured work surface. Arrange a heaping 3/4 cup filling over 1 half of each circle, leaving a 1" border between filling and edge of circle. Cut remaining 1/2 Tbsp. butter into 4 pieces; place on each mound of filling. Pull bottom half of dough over filling; crimp with your fingers to seal. (Alternately, use a fork to seal.)
• Beat egg and a pinch of salt in a small bowl. Using a pastry brush, brush each pasty with egg wash. Cut a couple small slits in top of pasty. Transfer to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and bake until golden brown and bubbling, 45-60 minutes. Serve with butter and ketchup, if desired.

CORNISH PASTY

Steps:

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

HELLO DOLLIES I

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Press into the bottom of an 9x9 inch baking pan. Layer the chocolate chips, coconut and pecans over the crumbs. Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the top.
• Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool and cut into squares.

MEAT PASTIES

Steps:

• Remove puff pastry from freezer and allow to soften, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, place carrots and potatoes in medium-size pot, cover with cold water, place over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer for 15 minutes, drain and allow the vegetables to cool.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dice the carrots and potatoes, and place them in a medium-size bowl with the pork, onion, beef broth, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix well with spoon or fingers.
• Unfold the puff pastry sheets. Using a sharp knife, trace a circle in the pastry around a 6-inch plate and repeat five times. In the middle of the lower half of each circle, place 1/2 cup of pork mixture. Fold the circles in half, wet your fingers and press the circles together. Use a fork to pinch the edges and to prick several steam holes in each pastie. Use a pastry brush to glaze each lightly with the beaten egg. Bake on cookie trays for 30 minutes.

PASTIES

Steps:

• For the filling: Add all ingredients for the filling into a large mixing bowl. Push the veggies into the meat until everything is mixed well. All of the veggies should bind together with the meat. If you have any loose veggies hanging out keep mixing and binding. Set aside until ready to build pasties.
• For the crust: In a separate large mixing bowl, add the flour and salt. Combine together, and then add the 2 types of shortening. Break up the shortening while working it in with the flour. You want to have small, pea size pieces of shortening and flour combined yet not over mixed. In a separate bowl, blend the eggs, water, and vinegar. Add to the flour and mix and fold the contents together, gently pushing the flour and liquid mixture until they are together in a large dough consistency. Pick up the mix and continue to turn it over on top of the liquid and just push it down into the liquid not to over mix the dough. Cover the dough and chill it before rolling.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Take a portion of the dough and lay on a floured counter. Roll out the dough to no more than 1/4- inch thickness. Roll out as big of a sheet as you are comfortable with; we use an 8-inch plate and cut out crusts for each pastie. After cutting the crust, work the scraps back into the next sheets. Do this as many times as it takes to use up all the dough. With a consistent thickness you should get about 25 crusts.
• Once you have your crusts rolled out you can begin filling. Lay out your crusts and egg wash half of the inside crust. Lay 1 cup of filling in the center of each crust. Fold in half gently, careful not to tear the dough. After folding, use a fork to crimp the crusts. Place pasties on a lined baking sheet, poke fork holes on top to create air pockets, egg wash the top, and place in the oven. Bake until the crust is golden brown and an internal temperature is reached of 160 degrees F.