I first learned to make pasties in Arizona from a lady who grew up in the U.P. of Michigan. I've since tweaked it several times to the way we like them. There are many different variations out there, but here's what we do. I often make and roll out the pastry on one day and then make the filling, put them together and bake them the next. Tired mamas got to do what they gotta do!
Pasty Pies (as our kids call them)
This recipe makes about 12-1 cup pasties, so I generally double or triple it. You can use whichever pastry recipe you like, but this is the one I use.
Pastry:
1 lb. lard/butter/shortening/beef tallow or a mixture of them
5 c. flour (white/brown/spelt/mixture)
1 t. baking powder
1/2-1 t. salt
Beat in a mixing bowl with whips until it looks like the size of peas.
Put into a 1 c. measure:
1 egg
1 T. vinegar
Fill to the the 1 c. line with water and mix until egg is blended in (with fork or whisk). Add egg/vinegar/water mixture to the flour mixture in your mixing bowl and switch to the dough hook to blend until clumpy. Chill and roll out as desired.
For the pasties, I roll it out into about 8" rounds and then place them between pieces of wax paper and rechill until you're ready to use them.
For the filling:
2-3 lb. thawed ground beef
6 carrots, grated with small grate
1 onion, chopped finely
8 potatoes, grated with large grate
1 rutabaga (optional, but is the key to good pasty flavor), grated large grate
2 T. pepper
1 T. salt
1 T. garlic salt (or just 2 T. total salt)
I grate all the vegetables as they seem to keep their moisture better than cubing them. I also don't bother peeling them, as you can't tell in the end anyhow (buy organic if you can). It's also less work if you have a food processor. I have a hand cranking grater that works really fast, so the boys take care of them for me. Often if I make these for new mamas, I leave out the onion and garlic salt in case their nursing baby won't care for it. The pepper amount is also a bit higher, so you can lower it if you don't like things as peppery. We love our pepper!
To put together:
Mix all the filling ingredients in a big, huge mixing bowl or two (with your hands works the best). Squish the meat and veggies all together so they're mixed in well. Then use a 1 c. measure and put a cup of filling onto one side of a round of pastry. Fold the top over and either crimp or roll the edges up so that the filling is enclosed. Bake on a cookie sheet for 45 min.-1 hour at 350*F or until a meat thermometer reads 172*F. Let cool and then wrap individually and freeze.
You can also put a dab of butter or gravy in them before sealing to make them more delicious! The picture above also shows a glaze on top of them (butter or egg or milk wash), but I don't bother with that.
