Pasties

Pasties are traditional hand held meat pies. They originated in England with miners. The filling consisted of beef, potatoes, and onion cooked in a pastry crust. The miners could eat them without contaminating the contents, and throw away the part of the dirty crust they had held. Latin America has a similar dish called empanadas. This recipe comes from my friend Anne. She is the pastie queen! Its traditionally considered a sacrilege to eat them with gravy. I like them both with, or without gravy. These are good in the summer when they come out of the freezer and are reheated in the microwave.

Ann's Pasties
10# potatoes, peeled and cubed
6# roast, top round or skirt, or flank steak, raw, cubed
2 3/4 c onions, chopped
1 1/2 T pepper
4 T salt
butter

Crust:
10 c flour
1 3/4 c shortening
1/8 c salt
3 c water
1 egg, beaten, for egg wash

For crust: Use a food processor to cut shortening into flour and salt. Add 2 1/2 c water and then add more as needed up to 3 1/2 cups. Its easier to work with if refrigerated, covered, for an hour before rolling out. Roll out a dinner plate sized piece of crust...to a circle 1/4 inch thick. Re-roll scraps and cut into additional circles.

For filling: Cut ingredients into uniformly small pieces. It's important to have the potatoes and the meat cut into equal sized pieces. Combine ingredients in a bowl to mix evenly.

Put 1/4 cup of the mixture into the center of a rolled out pastry. May also add 1 T of butter in each pastie. Moisten crust edges, fold in half, and crimp to seal. Place on a buttered baking sheet and brush lightly with egg wash. Make 2 slits in each pasty to allow steam to escape. Bake at 350-375 for 1 hour. Serve hot or cold.

FREEZE:
After baking, cool completely. Place on a cookie sheet in the freezer until frozen solid. Move to a ziptop freezer bag. Label and date. To thaw, place in a covered container in the refrigerator. Warm in a 350 degree oven, or microwave.