Cornish Pasties with Beer Gravy
Blogger: Helen Graves Recipe courtesy of www.greatbritishchefs.com. This Friday Night crowd pleaser is the ideal feast for a hungry family gathering.
Quick Stats
Moderate
2-4 Servings
35 minutes bake time
Cornish Pasties with Beer Gravy
Blogger: Helen Graves Recipe courtesy of www.greatbritishchefs.com. This Friday Night crowd pleaser is the ideal feast for a hungry family gathering.
Ingredients
For the pasties:
- 500 g Jus-Rol™ Shortcrust Pastry Block
- 200 g beef skirt, diced
- 150 g waxy potatoes, diced to the same size as the beef
- 150 g swede, diced to the same size as the beef
- 1 onion peeled and diced
- butter
- 1 egg, beaten with a splash of milk, to glaze
- freshly ground salt and white and black pepper
For the beer gravy:
- 2 onions, peeled and sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 100 ml good quality beef stock
- 200 ml strong ale
- a sprig of fresh thyme, leaves picked
- a pinch of sugar
- 30 g butter
- freshly ground salt and pepper
Equipment required
- Pastry Brush
- Large bowl
- Rolling Pin
- Baking tray
Techniques Used
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How to Make a Cornish Pasty
How to Make a Cornish Pasty
Divide the block of Shortcrust pastry into six even pieces, roll out each, as described in the ‘Best results for Rolling out Shortcrust Pastry’ pages, large enough to cut out a 17.5 cm/7″ disc. ( Use a plate as a template for this)
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- Lay some thinly sliced potato across centre of one pastry disc.
- Top with diced onion, carrot and/or swede.
- Top with diced steak and season with salt and black pepper.
- Top the meat with further slices of potato to keep in the moisture.
- Brush pastry lightly with beaten egg and bring up sides to meet over the filling.
- Press edges firmly together to seal.
- With a sharp knife knock up edges to complete sealing process.
- Turn pasty at right angles to you and crimp the knocked up edge using your thumb and forefinger of you left hand and the forefinger of the right hand.
- Brush with beaten egg and repeat with all remaining ingredients.
- Bake for 15 minutes then reduce the oven temperature by 20º and continue cooking for further 20-25 minutes.
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Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6
- In a large bowl, mix together the diced beef and vegetables, seasoning really well, particularly with pepper (a mixture of black and white pepper is nice here)
- Roll out the pastry to a thickness of 5mm and cut out circles to make either two large pasties or four smaller ones (using dinner plates or side plates as guides)
- Divide the filling between the pastry discs, placing on one half of each circle, leaving a gap at the edge to seal. Top each filling with a knob of butter
- Brush around the edges of the pastry with the egg wash and then fold over the free half of pastry to cover the filling. Crimp the edges together to seal, and pierce a small hole in the top of each pasty
- Transfer the pasties to a baking tray, brush all over with the egg wash and cook for 30–35 minutes, or until golden brown
- For the beer gravy, melt the butter gently in a frying pan and add the sliced onions. Cook very gently until golden (this can take up to 30 minutes), adding the garlic once the onions are nearly ready
- Add the stock, ale, thyme leaves and sugar and bring to the boil. Continue to cook until slightly reduced and thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste
- Serve the pasties hot from the oven with the gravy
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