England Starter – 'Cornish' Pasties

For England week we decided to start with Cornish Pasties! We’re using the inverted commas on Cornish because we are very much aware that a true Cornish Pasty has Protected Geographical Indication status — meaning to be called a Cornish Pasty it must be made in Cornwall! Ours were made in Wales, so they are simply pasties.

The filling for a traditional pasty is potato, swede, onion and beef skirt. We swapped the beef for extra cheese to keep ours vegetarian — and honestly it worked a treat!

The shortcrust pastry was made from scratch — flour, butter, a pinch of salt and cold water brought together into a smooth dough and rested before rolling.

The filling was placed on one half of a large circle of pastry, the other half folded over and the edges crimped tightly. The crimping took a bit of practice but we got there!

As we were making these as a starter, we did make them a bit smaller than they would usually be, as they are very filling! Pasties were historically used as lunch for the miners in Cornwall, where one half would be sweet and one half would be savoury. The thick crust was where the miners would hold the pasty to avoid getting their food dirty and reduce the risk of arsenic poisoning.

As expected these were absolutely delicious — a proper taste of home. Let us know if you give these a go!