Pasty (short "a"): originally home baked for laborers' (Mesabi Range iron ore
miners) lunches: thick, sturdy pie crusts filled with meat and vegetables, including potatoes and rutabagas. Stays hot until lunch, a complete package eaten without need for utensils.
Best childhood location: Finnish Lutheran Church on 7th Avenue on Wednesdays.
Pasty Recipes at website below and on separate page in this blog.
www.hu.mtu.edu/vup/pasty/
Original Pasty
3 c. flour
1 1/2 sticks butter (cold and cut into bits)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. water
In a large bowl, combine flour, butter and salt. Blend ingredients until well combined and add water, one tablespoon at a time to form a dough. Toss mixture until it forms a ball. Kneed dough lightly against a smooth surface with heel of the hand to distribute fat evenly. Form into a ball, dust with flour, wrap in wax paper and chill for 30 minutes.
Filling
1 lb. round steak, coarsely ground
1 lb. boneless pork loin, coarsely ground
5 carrots, chopped
2 lg. onions, chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 c. rutabaga, chopped (can substitute turnip)
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
Combine all ingredients in large bowl. Divide the dough into 6 pieces, and roll one of the pieces into a 10-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Put 1 1/2 cups of filling on half of the round. Moisten the edges and fold the unfilled half over the filling to enclose it. Pinch the edges together to seal them and crimp them decoratively with a fork. Transfer pasty to lightly buttered baking sheet and cut several slits in the top. Roll out and fill the remaining dough in the same manner. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Put 1 tsp. butter through a slit in each pasty and continue baking for 30 minutes more. Remove from oven, cover with a damp tea towel, cool for 15 minutes.
Milwaukee Journal March 28, 1943 Welsh
Michigan Tech Dining Services Pasty Recipe
This recipe makes 10 pasties.
Put about 12 oz filling in each crust.
Dough:
3 1/2 flour
9 oz shortening
10 oz cold water
1TBl+1 tsp salt
Filling:
3 1/2# potatoes,peeled
1 1/2# coarse ground pork
12 oz coarse ground beef
9 oz diced onions
8 oz diced carrots
7 oz diced rutabaga
1/4# butter
1TBl salt
1Tbl pepper
Chop the carrots and onions. Dice the potatoes and rutabagas in a 3/8-inch dice. Mix all the filling ingredients together and set aside. Mix the flour and salt. Cut in the shortening, as for pie crust. Add the water and mix gently just until the dry particles are absorbed; do not over mix.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.On a floured surface, roll 4-ounce balls of dough into circles about the size of a dinner plate. Put about 12 ounces of filling on one half. Dampen the edges, fold crust over filling, and seal.Place on greased baking sheets (or use baking paper). Place in oven and bake for one hour. Serve with either catsup or gravy.
Meat and Vegetable Pasty
Brown ½ lb cubed lamb or beef in 2 tbsp fat. Remove from heat add 2 cups diced,
raw potatoes, 1 ½ cups dried raw carrots one cup diced celery and leaves, 1
tbsp salt ¼ tsp. pepper mix thoroughly. Make rich dough by sifting 4 cups
flour, 4 tsp. baking powder 1 ½ tsp. salt. cut in ¾ cup shortening. Add milk
to make a soft dough.
To make a meat and vegetable pasty, brown one-half pound cubed lamb or beef in two tablespoons fat. Remove from heat and add two cups diced raw potatoes, one and one-half cups dried raw carrots, one cup diced celery and leaves, one tablespoon salt and one-fourth teaspoon pepper and mix thoroughly. Make a rich dough by sifting together four cups enriched flour, four teaspoons baking powder and one and one-half teaspoons salt. Cut in three-fourths cup shortening. Add milk to make a soft dough-about one and three-fourths to two cups. Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead gently one-half minute. Roll one-fourth inch thick. Cut into 8” rounds. On half of each round put one cup filling. Fold other half of round over filling, sealing edge firmly with finger tips or fork. Bake on an un-greased baking sheet in a 375 degree oven 50 to 60 minutes. This makes six large pasties.
Cornish Pasty
Crust - 3 cups flour, 1 cup finely ground suet 1/4 cup lard 1 tsp. salt
6-7 tb. cold water
Filling - 1lb beef (cubed or diced) 1/2 lb. pork, potatoes, turnip, onion,
parsley, some finely grated carrots are optional
Blend lard into flour, preferably with pastry blender. Add suet which has been finely ground. Work in thoroughly with flour mixture. Add cold water to make soft dough, just a little bit more moist than ordinary pastry dough but not as soft as biscuit dough. Divide dough into four pieces and roll each piece out to size of dinner plate. On one half of the rolled out dough build up the ingredients as follows a half-inch layer of finely chopped potatoes; season with salt and pepper. Follow with a thin layer of sliced turnip, then a very thin layer of chopped onion and sprinkle with parsley. Cover with about one fourth of mixed cubed beef and pork and season once more. Top with piece of butter about the size of a walnut. Now fold uncovered portion of dough over filled and crimp edges. Your pasty is now somewhat in the shape of a half moon. Make a one-inch slit in the top of the dough and place prepared pasty on a greases cookie sheet or a pie pan and put in the oven. Bake at about 400 degrees for an hour.
Happiness Pasty
Blend lard into flour. Add the suet which has been ground through a food chopper, using finest cutter. Work in thoroughly with flour mixture. Add cold water to make a soft dough (more moist than pastry but not as soft as biscuit dough).
Divide dough into four pieces and roll out each piece to about the size of a dinner plate. On one half of the rolled-out dough, build up the ingredients as follows.
1. A half-inch layer of finely chopped or sliced potatoes seasoned with salt and pepper.
2. A thin layer of sliced turnips.
3. A very thin layer of chopped onions.
4. A quarter of the mixed beef and pork and season once more.
5. A piece of butter about the size of a walnut. Now fold the uncovered portion of the dough over the filled portion and crimp the edges half-moon shape. Make a one-inch slit in top of the dough and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet in 400-degree oven for one hour.
Finlandia Pasties
Ingredients
4 cups flour, dash salt, 1 ½ cups solid vegetable shortening 1 cup cold water
Filling
½ lb ground beef ½ lb ground pork ¼ cup beef suet finely chopped
1 large potato peeled and cut into 3/8 in. cubes. 2 carrots peeled cut into
3/8 inch cubes 1 small red onion finely diced, ½ rutabaga or turnip peeled and
cut into 3/8 inch cubes. 1/8 cup fresh parsley finely chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all remaining ingredients in large bowl, using hands to mix until thoroughly combined, like meat loaf.
Divide dough into four equal parts. Using a rolling pin on a floured board, roll each into an 8-inch to 10-inch circle. Place 1 cup of filling in center of circle. Fold both sides up and crimp firmly, forming a half-moon shape.
Use a large spatula to lift each pasty from floured board, and set it on a greased cookie sheet.
Bake 75 minutes, until brown remove to wire rack. Serve on plates, with gravy on the side if desired. Yield: 4 meal size pasties.
(Ms. Wilson)
Pasties Michigan style (still from mines to supermarket)
4 cups flour
salt 1 1/4 cups lard, chilled and cut into 1/4 inch bits
10 to 12 tablespoons ice water
2 pounds top round steak trimmed and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
5 medium potatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 medium turnips, scraped and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
In large, chilled bowl combined flour, 2 teaspoons salt and lard. Working quickly, rub flour and fat together with fingertips until it looks like flakes of coarse meal. Pour in 10 tablespoons ice water, toss together and gather dough into a ball. If dough crumbles, add up to 2 tablespoons more water, a teaspoonful at a time, until the particles adhere. Divide dough into 6 equal balls, dust them with flour, wrap in waxed paper and chill 1 hour.
Combine beef, potatoes, onions, turnips, 1 tablespoon salt and pepper and mix well. On lightly floured surface, roll out one ball of dough at a time into a rough circle about 1/4 inch thick. Using a plate or pot lid about 9 inches in diameter as a guide, but the dough into rounds with a pastry wheel or sharp knife. Place about 1 1/2 cups mixture in center of round and spread to make a center strip. Fold one side of the round over that and press edges together snugly at one end. Starting from the sealed end, press the two edges of the round together to encase the filling securely and form a double-thick band of dough about 1/2 inch wide along the seam across the top. With your fingers crimp together. Carefully transfer with large spatula to un-greased baking sheet. Repeat the process with remaining dough and filling. Cut small slashes on tops. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven about 45 minutes or until pasties are golden brown. Make six 9 inch pasties.
