Cornish Pasties - Hearty and Updated to be Heart-Healthy

Ever heard of a Pasty (rhymes with "nasty" but it's anything but that!)?  A pasty is another ancient food that has stood the test of time.  It's a baked pastry, a traditional variety of which is particularly associated with Cornwall, the westernmost county in England. It is made by placing uncooked filling typically of meat and vegetables, on a flat pastry circle and folding it to wrap the filling, crimping the edge to form a seal, and then baking for a long-time (at least an hour) until the crust is browned and the filling is done.

A fried or baked pastry filled with meat is a ubiquitous dish that has been eaten for centuries across many cultures of the world.  One of the earliest iterations were "jiaozi" (now often knows as "pot-stickers"), a Chinese dumpling said to have been invented by Zhang Zhongjing (150 to 219 AD), one of the greatest practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine in history.  By the 10th century the concept seems to have spread to Persia and India in the form of a distinctly triangular fried filled-pastry called the "samosa".  Within a couple hundred years there is a record of a recipe for a French venison-filled pie called a "paste".  This seems to have spread all over Europe and been the predecessor of the Galatian and Portuguese "empanada", the Italian "calzone", and the English "pasty".  Pies, of course went on to be filled with fruits and sweet goodness and evolved to be primarily a dessert, but they began as a savory meat dish.

In Europe meat pies were originally food for the wealthy.   For instance, in exchange for his charter of the town of Great Yarmouth King Henry III required the following:

"The town is bound to send to the sheriffs of Norwich every year one hundred herrings, baked in twenty four pasties, which the sheriffs are to deliver to the lord of the manor of East Carlton who is then to convey them to the King."

During the 17th and 18th centuries the pasty became popular with working people in Cornwall, where tin miners and others adopted it due to its unique shape, forming a complete meal that could be carried easily and eaten with their hands.  In a mine the pasty's dense, folded pastry could stay warm for several hours, and if it did get cold it could easily be warmed on a shovel over a candle.  Over the years the pasty became so popular in Cornwall that it became the Cornish national food and the name "Cornish pasty" was awarded Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status by the European Commission on 20 July 2011.

The Cornish pasty travelled with Cornish immigrants to the various destinations around the world (primarily mining areas) where it has gained regional popularity in places like Australia, Mexico in the state of Hidalgo, Butte Montana, Mineral Pointe Wisconsin, Scranton Pennsylvania, and (most famously) the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  I first became aware of pasties when we lived in Michigan.

Pasties are delicious because they are so rich.  The trouble is that the pastry is made of white flour (high glycemic index) and  shortening (artery-clogging cholesterol-laden), and red meats (contribute to heart disease, arteriosclerosis, and colon cancer).  I had some leftover roasted turkey (relatively low fat and contains selenium which helps prevent cancer) from our Easter meal and decided to try making a heart-healthier pasty.  I replaced the white flour with whole-wheat flour, the shortening with coconut oil (has 0% cholesterol), and the red meats with turkey.

Here's how to make hearty and heart-healthy pasties:

Let's start with the pastry -

• 3 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 cup Coconut Oil
• 1 cup Cold Water
• 1 tsp Salt

Cut the coconut oil into the flour and salt.  Add the water and stir into a ball of dough (it will be very wet but that keeps it from burning as you cook it for a whole hour), wrap in plastic and pace it in the fridge for about an hour. 

Meanwhile you can get the filling ready - 

• 3 small Potatoes - diced
• 1 large Onion - chopped
• 3 small Carrots - chopped
• 3/4 cup Bell Peppers (I had some frozen colorful ones) - chopped
• 21 ounces of Cream of Mushroom Soup (equivalent of 2 cans but I used my own homemade)
• 1 lb. Roasted Turkey - diced
• Salt and Pepper to taste

After dicing up the vegetables and the turkey put all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix well.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Divide dough into six pieces, and shape into balls. On a well floured surface, roll each ball into an 8 inch round. Place 1/6th of the filling on one half of each.  Moisten the edges of the dough with water and then draw the other half of the pastry over the filling. Crimp edges to seal in filling. Prick with a fork and place on prepared baking sheet.  Bake for an hour and remove to cool for a few minutes on a rack before serving.

Serve one of these per person with a colorful salad and a kefir smoothie (we made ours with fresh mango)...mmm!  Try this ancient Cornish cuisine updated to be healthier for your heart.