Home made Cornish Pasties

Yesterday was St Pirans Day here in Cornwall. It's a time to celebrate all things Cornish on our national day. St Piran was a saint, chased out of Ireland, who came to Cornwall during the sixth century tied to a millstone . He is renowned for building a chapel in the sands at Perranporth and bringing Christianity to Cornwall. He also supposedly accidentally discovered tin, when silver white tin flowed from his black hearth stone, and this is why the flag of Cornwall is a white cross on a black background.


Today Kieran (middle son) wanted to make some pasties and, I might be biased but, together we made some of the best pasties I've ever had.


So here is our recipe:


For the pastry
500g plain flour
250g Stork cooking fat
4tbsp cold water


For the filling
1 onion chopped and cooked until soft
140g swede, chopped into very small cubes
140g potato, chopped into very small cubes
140g carrots, chopped into very small cubes 
300g strips of beef for stir frying, cut into small pieces
Salt and pepper




1. Make pastry. Rub four and fat together to make breadcrumb consistency. Add water and mix together. Wrap in cling film and chill in fridge for 20 minutes.


2. Roll out pastry and either cut around a plate or use a pasty cutter to make perfect circles.


3. Share filling out between pasties. Season well. Crimp edges. Brush pastry top with milk.


4. Bake for about 55 minutes at 170 celsius


We served our pasties with home made chips (cut potato into wedges, par boil until you can pierce with a fork, drain, spray with fat and oven bake until brown, about 35 minutes).


Today was an extra special day for us, as Sean ate his first ever pasty. Kieran made some little  pasties specially for him with just cheese and potato for the filling.


Looks like we'll have to make our own pasties more often...


Bye for now


Gillian