Festive pasties

Ingredients – Serves 4

For the pastry:

• 250g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 150g unsalted butter or margarine, cut into small chunks
• 1 large egg
• About 1 tbsp cold whole milk
• (Optionally use shop-bought pastry)

For the filling:

• Leftover chicken or turkey
• 2x Baked sweet potato, skinned
• 1x shallot, diced
• 1x clove of garlic, crushed
• 1x stick of celery, diced
• 1tbsp of breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp of dried cranberries

For the decoration and topping:

• 1x egg, beaten
• Maldon seas salt, cracked black pepper

Method

1. For the pastry, place the plain flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Add in the chunks of butter and using your fingertips, rub together the butter/margarine with the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre and add the egg and some of the milk to help bind. Incorporate the liquids into the dry ingredients until the dough begins to hold together. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and use your hands to work the pastry together until it just forms a smooth ball. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and flatten into a disc and chill for at least an hour.

   For the filling: Place a non-stick frying pan on heat, add oil and sauté the onion, add garlic, celery and chicken and cook until the chicken is golden brown.

   Mix with sweet potatoes, cranberries and breadcrumbs and set aside to cool down.

   Line a baking tray with a sheet of baking parchment. Whisk the egg for the glaze and sealing in a bowl and have a pastry brush on hand as well.

   Divide the pastry into 2 and on a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry until it reaches 3mm thickness, turning and flipping the pastry regularly so it doesn’t stick to the table. Using a 13cm cutter, cut out rounds of the pastry (you should get 4 or 5 if you are lucky), removing the excess and setting aside to reroll. Place a large spoonful of the filling onto one half of the pastry round, leaving around a half centimetre border around the edge.

   Brush the edges of the pastry all the way round and fold over half of the pastry over the filling, pressing down firmly to seal. Using a fork, press down the pastry edges to seal and crimp. Place onto the baking tray, leaving some space between. Repeat using up the rest of the pastry and the rest of the filling. Place into the fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up the pastry.

   Preheat the oven to 190CºC. Brush the pasties with egg wash all over the surface and in between the crimped edges. 

   Bake the pasties for around 25 to 30 minutes until the pasties are a rich golden brown on top and the bases are nicely browned.