Birthday Pasty

 So as you've probably gathered I like baking and making cakes. It also turns out that eating sweet stuff is a past-time loved by mainly females. So as it was a male colleagues birthday at work I decided to take the initiative ;) and make a savoury Birthday thing to put candles in.....

I chose Mini Pasties!! (I say mini, but still the size of your hand)
I found the recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Every Day. The pastry is really delicious and so quick and easy to make. I use the same recipe for my sausage rolls.

For the rough puff pastry
250g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
550g plain flour
A good pinch of salt
240-300ml iced water

METHOD (2 variations..)

How to make leftover stew pasties (use my Spiced Beef Stew Recipe here)

1. For the filling, drain off any excess juices from the stew so that the meat and veg are just lightly coated in gravy. Take any large chunks of meat or veg and chop them up roughly before stirring back together. Taste the stew and make sure it's seasoned to your liking. Leave to cool completely.
2. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface to about 3mm thick. Using a plate or a cake tin as a template, cut out four 20cm circles; you may have to gather up the trimmings and re-roll them to get your fourth circle.
3. Spoon the stew on to one half of each circle. Brush the pastry edges with water, fold the other half of the pastry over the filling to form a half-moon shape and crimp well to seal.
4. Place the pasties on a lightly oiled baking sheet and brush the tops with beaten egg. Bake in an oven preheated to 190°C/Gas Mark 5 for about 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. Eat warm or cold.

Squash and Lentil Pasties

Main Ingredients:

• Brown lentils
• Butternut squash
• Shortcrust pastry
• Onions, carrots and celery
• Mustard, white wine and balsamic vinegar

First one onion, one carrot and one celery stick were fried in olive oil, then simmered in white wine. Then the (rather unappetizing-looking) brown tinned lentils were added along with bay, thyme and half a pint of vegetable stock and simmered for 10 mins. I then hacked away at the squash until we had some nice cube-shaped chunks, which were chucked in and cooked for a further 20 minutes.

The resulting mixture was rather watery, so I set about it with a potato masher to help the vegetables soak up some of the juices. Finally, two teaspoons of English mustard and the same of Balsamic vinegar were added to give it a kick.

Anyway they flew off the plate, the meat ones especially!!