Sunday Dinner with Chef Simon [Dec'12]

SaskMade Marketplace would like to welcome the esteemed Chef Simon of Simon's Fine Foods in Saskatoon for a new post series here on our blog. Sunday dinners have become a rare and treasured time for families to make time for each other, make meals to remember, and make memories to last a lifetime. Chef Simon will be bringing you inspiration and instruction for your own Sunday meal, using local Saskatchewan ingredients and European inspiration.

Wild rice, lentil, bean, vegetable and goats cheese Pasty

This month’s blog is about what we chefs in the UK used to call “Cornish Pasty” until July 2011 when it received Protected Geographical Indication by the European Commission, which means I have to describe it as above.

Here are a few other names it’s known by: Cornish pasty, pastie, British pasty, oggie, oggy, teddy oggie, tiddy oggin to name a few.

There’s an amazing amount of history behind this simple pastry, and some of the more fun aspects include the reasoning behind the design - specifically the crimping. It was designed to allow the Cornish tin miners to take a meal down the mine, hold on to the pasty by the crimped section, eat the pasty and throw away the piece they held - now covered in dirt. Now that’s some clever food design right there! Some pasties even had savoury at one end and sweet at the other.

 Christmas is fast approaching and food will be the main topic over the holidays so here’s a great way to eat some healthy items in a perfect pastry package.

This recipe is vegetarian, but you can fill your pastry with anything, beef, lamb, chicken, and any flavour to boot.

Here’s the recipe for the pastry I used and I’ll add a gluten free recipe too. The filling can be prepared the day before to speed up the process.

[ Pastry ]

Ingredients  

Gluten free pastry dough

• 2 cups brown rice flour 
• 1 cup cornstarch 
• 1/2 cup quinoa flour 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 3 tsp xanthan gum 
• 2 eggs 
• 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar 
• 8-10 Tablespoons cold water 
• 1 c water 
• 1 c butter 

Regular Pasty dough (makes 6-8 pastries) 

• 2 cups all purpose flour 
• 1 cup diced cold butter or lard 
• 2 pinches salt 
• 8-10 tbsp ice cold water 

Method

In a bowl add the flour, butter and salt and with your fingertips blend quickly until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add the cold water and bring together to a dough, careful not to over work. Cling film (or plastic wrap) the ball of pastry and place in the fridge for 15 minutes to rest.

[ Filling ]

Ingredients   

•  4tbsp wild rice cooked and drained 
• 4tbsp pinto beans cooked and drained 
• 4tbsp lentils cooked and drained 
• 3 carrots chopped finely 
• 3 potatoes chopped finely 
• 4tbsp goats cheese 
• 1 small onion chopped finely 
• 3tsp dried garlic 
• 3tbsp chopped parsley 
• 1tsp fresh thyme picked 
• 1tsp fresh sage chopped 
• Salt and pepper 
• 3-4 tbsp tomato paste 
• 1 egg beaten 

Method

In a bowl, add all the ingredients and mix well. The veggies are uncooked in the mix and will cook in the pastry. Take out the pastry and divide into 8 pieces, roll out to the size of a tea plate (6-7 inch). Place a mound of rice mix on one half and test to see if the pastry will close.

Brush the outside with beaten egg and fold over the pastry, seal the edges well and place on a tray with parchment paper. Brush the pasty with beaten egg all over and pierce the top of the pasty to allow steam to vent. Bake at 400F for about 45 minutes. You can eat the pasty hot or cold.

These pasties are a perfect way to use up meats and veggies and will look amazing on a Boxing Day buffet.