← Nouns Cooking · British & Irish

Ingredients

• 450 g plain or strong white flour
• 1 tsp Salt
• 100 g cold butter, cubed
• 100 g cold lard (or more butter), cubed
• 150 ml ice-cold water
• 400 g beef skirt (or chuck), cut into 1 cm pieces
• 300 g waxy potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 200 g Swede (rutabaga), peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp black or white pepper
• 1 tsp Salt
• 20 g Butter (optional)
• 1 Eggs, beaten, to glaze

Method

1. Mix the flour and salt, then rub in the butter and lard with your fingertips until it looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in just enough cold water to make a firm dough, knead briefly until smooth, wrap and chill for 30 min.
2. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan, 400°F) and line a baking tray. Divide the pastry into 4 and roll each piece out to a round about 22 cm across, using a plate as a guide.
3. Layer the filling across the middle of each round: potato and swede first, then onion and beef, then more potato on top. Season every layer generously with salt and pepper and add a small knob of butter.
4. Brush the edges with water, fold the pastry over to make a half-moon and press to seal. Crimp the edge by folding and pinching it over itself along its length, then brush with egg and cut a small steam hole in the top.
5. Bake for 20 min, then lower the oven to 170°C (150°C fan, 340°F) and bake for 30 min more until deep golden. A skewer pushed through the steam hole should slide easily through tender vegetables.
6. Rest for 10 min before eating, as the filling stays very hot. They are just as good warm or cold.

Tips

• Everything goes in raw and cooks inside the pastry, so cut the beef small and slice the vegetables thinly.
• Lard keeps the pastry short and sturdy; all butter works too but is a little more fragile.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Olive Magazine King Arthur Baking Cornish Pasty Association