Cornish pasties

Pasties originate in Cornwall, so perhaps it’s not surprising that I associate them with Falmouth.  Known locally as ‘Oggies’ for some obscure reason, they were a neatly packaged lunch for men working in the tin mines.  The story goes that they were savoury at one end and that the other end was filled with jam. Nowadays, they’re usually made with meat, but of course they were originally vegetarian – miners couldn’t afford meat for lunch. Rowes, in Falmouth, used to make (and probably still do!) probably the best vegetarian pasty that I’ve ever eaten.  However, they used flaky pastry, which is far from authentic and is so awkward to make, that I don’t suggest it for any of my recipes.  However, the following recipe is an attempt to replicate Rowes' masterpiece and I think the filling is not dissimilar.

 

Ideally, pasties are made in an oven, but if you don’t have one, they can be ‘dry’ fried in a heavy frying pan and are almost as good. 

 

Makes 2 pasties

 

Ingredients

 

1 portion of pastry

1 large potato

1 large carrot

1 small swede (or turnip) - about the size of a tennis ball

1 onion

a good pinch each of rosemary, thyme and sage

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp white pepper

 

Method:

• If you are using it, pre-heat the oven to Fairly Hot. 
• Peel, if you prefer, and thinly slice the potato, carrot, swede and onion, then put them into a frying pan of lightly salted water.  Bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add the herbs, salt and the white pepper. Half a tsp might seem a lot, but in my opinion, good pasties are always quite peppery and you could easily add more without overdoing it.  Cook a bit longer, until tender – about ten minutes. Drain and cool, trying not to break up the slices.  
• Make the pastry, cut it in half and roll it out.
• Cut out two discs a little smaller than the diameter of your frying pan, or about 200mm/8 in across, if you're cooking in the oven.  Make your discs as near circular as possible: this makes it easier to seal the pasties.
• Pile the filling carefully in the centre of each disc.  You really want it to be thoroughly cooled and quite dry, otherwise it can weaken the pastry.  Shove in as much filling as you can - pasties are much nicer well filled. 
• Now moisten the edges with water: a 12 mm (1/2 inch) paintbrush is ideal for this, or just use your finger. Fold each disc in two and pinch the edges together. The easiest way tends to be to start from the middle and work to the ends. Poke back any of the filling that tries to drop out. When the pasty is sealed, fold the seam back over on itself, at 12 mm/1/2 in intervals, to double seal the edge and pinch it between finger and thumb. This should result in a highly professional looking crimped effect.
• Put them on a baking sheet and cook in a Fairly Hot oven for 20 – 25 minutes, or cook them in the frying pan.
• To do this, ensure that your pan is very clean and/or excellently seasoned.  If you have any doubts, it might well be worth greasing the pan first. Put it over a flame tamer and a moderate flame. (If you don't have a flame tamer, I would definitely grease the pan.  While this increases your chances of burning the pasties slightly, this is nowhere near as bad as the pastry sticking to the pan).
• When you’ve made the pasties, put them in the pan. Their semi-circular shape makes this quite straightforward. After about 10 minutes, carefully turn them over, using a fish slice and/or tongs. Cook the other side. The pastry should brown nicely where it’s in contact with the pan and the rest should cook through to become opaque. Turn them again for another 5 minutes each side if they don’t seem quite done. If you have a well-vented lid to let the steam out, (so that they don’t end up soggy) you can cover them to speed things up a little.
  
  

Pasties are delicious straight out of the oven or pan, either eaten - carefully! - out of hand, or on a plate with knife and fork, accompanied with a green vegetable or salad.  Cold, like the miners ate them, they're ideal picnic food being pretty robust and not requiring a plate.

 

Notes:

• If you know how to make pastry, my recipe for 'one portion' is: 4 tsp olive oil, 1/3 cup water, pinch of salt, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1/4 tsp baking powder.
• Swede,in my opinion, is much preferable to turnip, both for taste and colour, but if they're unavailable, turnip is a good second best. 
• If you don’t have white pepper, use black, but the white pepper is what is traditionally used and adds a different sort of ‘heat’ from black.
• If you are feeling pretty confident, you can start sealing the pasty from one end: this allows you to keep adding filling to stuff them as full as possible.  However, it's easy to tear the pastry - this is one reason why a cold, dry filling makes life easier.  Any left over veg can be put into an omelette - or even a sandwich, for the more adventurous eater.
• If you're confident about the pan/flame tamer arrangement, add a little oil to the pan before adding the pasties. This will ensure a delightful golden crust, but if the pan is too hot you could easily burn the pastry.

Variations:

• Cook a diced potato, carrot, onion and 1/4 cup split peas in a small saucepan. Season with a few herbs, salt and pepper and, when it’s cooled, pile onto the pastry. Complete and cook as above.  This filling will probably be easier to use than the sliced vegetables in the main recipe.
• Cook the above with a little turmeric, coriander, cumin, chilli and garam masala as an ersatz samosa! 
• Leftover stewor hotpot can also be used. Ensure it’s well drained before putting it on the pastry.
• Add freeze-dried peas to the filling.
• Any of the fillings for empanadas can be used to make a savoury pasty.
• Pasties are good hot, as a main meal, with a green vegetable such as Brussels sprouts. I dare say some people would like to add a gravy or sauce of some description, too.

 Edited 26/6/26