Laura’s grandma’s Cornish pasties

‘My grandmother was a true Cornish woman, famed for her pasties. I remember her hands lightly pinching and folding the pastry to seal the edges. Crimping is something of an art form, born of practical origins. In the old days, pasties were a favourite lunchtime meal for workers in Cornwall’s many coal and tin mines. The hungry men would hold their lunch by its crimped edge, eat their delicious pasty, and simply discard the crust they’d been holding in their dirty hands. I’ve replaced some of the lard with butter, but the recipe is otherwise authentic.’

Laura Bishop, retail customer

Makes: 4 large pasties (kids normally eat half each) | Preparation time: 35 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour

125 g (4½ oz) butter

125 g (4½ oz/½ cup) lard

450 g (1 lb/3 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour

1 swede, cut into 3 cm (1¼ in) cubes, then thinly sliced

2 potatoes, cut into 3 cm (1¼ in) cubes, then thinly sliced

400 g (14 oz) skirt steak, cut into 1 cm (½ in) pieces

1 large brown onion, finely chopped

Milk, for brushing

Chutney, tomato sauce or HP sauce, to serve

Cut butter and lard into 2.5 cm (1 in) cubes and freeze for a few hours. Place in a food processor with flour and a pinch of salt and pulse until mixture resembles breadcrumbs, adding a spoonful or two of water to bring it together. (Alternatively, freeze the fats whole, then grate them into flour on a clean surface. Combine, then add water and chop together with a knife.) Shape into a fat disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cut pastry into four. Shape one portion into a rough disc and roll it out to the thickness of a coin. Use a 22 cm (8½ in) plate to cut out a circle. Layer a quarter of swede and potato in the centre, season with salt and pepper, top with a quarter of the steak and onion, and season again. Pile it as high as possible, leaving a pastry border to make sealing easier. Dip a finger in water and run it around the edge, then fold pastry up around filling to form a half-moon shape, squeezing the edges together to roughly seal. Crimp pastry by folding over small sections of the edge, away from you, until completely sealed. Repeat with remaining pastry and filling.

Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F). Transfer pasties to a lined baking tray and brush with milk. Make a few small incisions in the centre to let the steam out. (Grandma always cut our initials, personalising each pasty.) Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 150°C (300°F) and bake for another 45 minutes until golden brown. Enjoy with lashings of chutney, tomato sauce or HP sauce.