All this fuss about the humble Cornish pasty! The traditionalists say it has to be crimped around the side, contain precisely 12.5% beef and take the traditional D-shaped form.
For a county that’s so laid back, it might all seem a bit over the top. Mind you, next to baking pasties, Cornwall’s second favourite pastime is baiting that lot over the Tamar. Now that PDO status has been awarded for Cornish clotted cream AND Cornish pasties, are we about to witness a retaliation from Devon? We’ll see.
In the meantime let’s get back to what we do best – making delicious food. Our resident chef, the two Michelin-starred Nathan Outlaw, has created a very tasty Crackler Pasty with Davidstow Cornish cheddar to celebrate St Piran’s Day on Saturday 5th March (Cornwall’s patron saint day). It doesn’t matter what shape you prefer – it’ll still be scrumptious.
RECIPE
Nathan Outlaw’s Davidstow “Crackler” Pasty
Ingredients (makes 4)
For the pastry
300g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
Pinch of salt
150g cold butter
Cold water, to mix
If you don’t have enough time to make the pastry from
scratch, try it with ready made shortcrust pastry sheets from
Jus-Rol.
For the filling
Rapeseed oil for cooking
1 onion, finely chopped
1 medium potato, peeled and finely chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and finely chopped
175g/6oz swede, peeled and finely chopped
160g Davidstow Cornish Crackler
100g Clotted Cream
Salt and ground white pepper
1 free-range egg, beaten, to glaze
Method
For the pastry – sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the flour. Using your hands, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add a little cold water, a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture begins to come together. Using your hands, bring the dough together into a ball, then wrap in cling film and place into the fridge to chill while you make the filling.
For the filling – heat a little oil in a non-stick pan. Add the onion to the pan and cook until soft. Add the potato, carrot and swede, and season well with salt and ground white pepper and stir. Cook gently for 5 minutes, remove from the heat and leave to cool.
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to approximately 3mm thick. Using an upturned saucer or small plate as a guide, cut out circles about 20cm/8in in diameter.
Place spoonfuls of the filling in the centre of each pastry circle and sprinkle 40 grams of cheese and a dollop of clotted cream on top. Brush the edges with beaten egg and fold the pastry over the filling to make a half-moon shape. Using your fingers, crimp the edges together to seal.
Place the pasties onto a baking sheet and brush with more beaten egg. Transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until crisp and golden-brown. Serve the pasties warm or cold.
Comments { 4 }
This recipe is nothing like the traditional pasty! I grew up in Cornwall and my mother made the best pasties I have ever tasted! One NEVER put in carrot! The pastry was a rough puff. The meat was a good quality skirt beef, onion, potato and swede. You did not CHOP the potato and swede you made slightly chunky slices. No cooking first, Pile in potato and swede then meat, then onion and a little flour and seasoning then sprinkle water over it and gather up the pastry. The pasty did not lie on its side and the crimp was not on the side but not right over the top either but slightly to one side of the top. Cook in a hot oven and then turn the heat down so the meat cooks more slowly. The gravy should ooze out when pasty is bitten. The pasties were wrapped in tea cloths and taken out into the fields in baskets for the labourers especially during harvest time.
Hi there, Nathan here. Thank you very much for your feedback on my recipe, it’s always good to hear your thoughts.
Well what can I say other than I was inspired by the classic pasty and wanted to try something like the original. Not a copy, because that can never be done. Just purely inspired!
Here’s my take http://beyondthepasty.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/when-its-better-to-turn-a-nathan-outlaw-pasty-into-a-pie/
Hi Davidstow, I dont care which way this is done it tastes damn good…!