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My Pasty Pie Recipe

(Originally published in The Guardian, February 2013)

I tend not to carefully measure my filling ingredients when I'm making pasties at home, so invariably I'm left with extra filling and I like to use it up by making a pasty pie, which can be reheated for lunch the following day, or frozen to use at a later date.

You don't have to make this with leftover filling though, it's a quick and easy alternative to making actual pasties and since each portion has much less pastry it's a slightly healthier option.

Here's my recipe for cooking pasty pie from scratch – almost as tasty as a proper pasty but a little lighter and incredibly simple to make.

For the pastry:
175g plain flour
75g vegetable shortening
1tsp salt
Cold water
1 egg

For the filling:
200g beef skirt
1 medium potato
1 medium onion
½ small swede
Knob of butter
Salt and pepper

In a large bowl, combine the salt and flour, then rub in the fat until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Then bring the mixture together using just enough cold water to bind. Wrap in clingfilm, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Dice the beef, potato, swede and onion and mix together in a bowl with plenty of salt and pepper.

Place the mixture into a pie dish, and add a knob of butter and a light sprinkling of flour.

Roll out the pastry to approximately 3mm thickness, lay over the top of the pie dish, crimp around the edges and trim off the excess.

Beat the egg with a little water and a pinch of salt, and brush all over the pastry.

Make a couple of small holes in the lide for the steam to escape, and bake the pie in the oven for approximately 45 minutes until golden brown.

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