Potato, cheese and onion pasties

I might have a slight British cooking theme going on lately, perhaps some nostalgia. Or is lockdown reminding me of all the good dishes? There are quite many nice dishes in that country, regardless their reputation. Maybe it’s mainly comfort food, like these veggie pasties I made, but that’s how I like it.

I made these pasties with a crispy crust from homemade pastry and soft potato-cheese-onion filling, which I think is one of the best fillings for a pasty. They were very satisfying and looked rustic to the max. Here is my recipe that makes about 4 middle sized pasties.

Potato, cheese and onion pasties

Ingredients

Pastry

2 cups wheat flour

½ tsp salt

4-5 tbsp oil

5-6 tbsp water

Filling

300 g potatoes

3 onions

2 garlic cloves

150 g grated Cheddar

Salt to taste

Ground black pepper to taste

Smoked paprika to taste

Method

For making the pastry, mix the flour, salt and oil until it has a crumbly texture. Then add water little by little and shape into a firm dough. Don't knead the dough too much. Let it rest for at least 30 minutes.

Peel and cook the potatoes in water. Break them up a bit after the cooking, but don’t mash them fully. I at least like to have some texture in the filling.

Peel and slice the onion and slow-cook it until browned. Then add finely chopped garlic.

Add the potatoes to the mix, season and stir in the grated cheese. Let the mix cool down.

Roll the dough out thinly divided into four round parts.

Fill in the pastry with the filling and close the pasties. Brush the closing seals with water, also brush the whole pasties with water.

Bake them in the oven at about 180 C for 30 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden brown.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Veggie sausage pasties

It has been another hectic week here and Christmas is approaching almost too fast. I'm going home for Christmas, but need to get all the presents sorted before I leave. I also want to decorate our apartment here in Copenhagen more, so I think that we'll buy a small Christmas tree today.

These open and closed veggie sausage pasties could be something for Christmas. I played around a little bit with my hedgehog cookie cutter, and this was the result. I think that these would also look nice made with Christmas cookie cutters like stars. We scoffed these cheesy sausage rolls away in no time, they were so tasty.

Ingredients

1 onion

1 garlic clove

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

4 vegetarian sausages

½ tsp smoked paprika

½ tsp sea salt

80 g grated cheese

200 g puff pastry

1 egg

Method

Chop the onion and garlic finely and cook them in rapeseed oil until soft. Add the cut vegetarian sausages and seasoning. Also mix the cheese in.

Prepare the puff pastry. Roll it out thinly and cut rectangular pieces from it, and corresponding lids with holes made with a cookie cutter. You can use the pieces that were cut off as decorations for some closed pasties.

Put some sausage filling on each bottom bit of the pastry and close the lids with a fork. Brush the pasties with a beaten egg.

Bake them at 200 C for about 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy hot or cold, both variations are good.

Have a lovely weekend!

Your VegHog

Rice and soya pasties

Here is a quick veggie pasty post before I start preparing tonight's dinner. I love slow cooking on a Sunday and spend quite a few hours in the kitchen. I stream either a TV programme or listen to music while I'm at it. I often also have a few sips of refreshing cider and try not to think of the approaching Monday. So today I'm going to make the same dish again that I posted a few weeks back, Braised cauliflower, roast potatoes and beurre blanc. I liked it so much, it's rich and comforting, which makes it perfect for a winter Sunday dinner.

But now to the pasties. Veggie pasties are very tasty and perfect snacks for any occasion. This time I chose a rice, soya mince and carrot mix as the filling. I used a purple carrot, an orange carrot and red camargue rice, which made the filling quite vibrant and interesting looking. These pasties were tasty too and I will soon make some more. 

4 large rice and soya pasties

Ingredients

1/3 cup red camargue rice

1/3 cup dried soya mince

1 onion

2 carrots

2 garlic cloves

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp liquid smoke

320 g puff pastry

Method

Cook the rice and soya mince separately in water.

Chop the onion, carrot and garlic finely and cook them in olive oil.

Season the mix after the rice and soya mince have also been mixed in.

Wrap the filling in puff pastry pockets and bake at 200 C for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Rice and soya pasties

Lately I have been thinking more about my grandmother's tasty food again, or actually when wouldn't I think of her or her cooking. Now a sudden food memory from my childhood and youth came up, about small rice and mince pasties that were normally served as savoury canapées at parties and gatherings. It's possible that they were sometimes also made for just regular days. I of course wanted to create a vegetarian version of these pasties to briefly return back to the past. I started simple, but I hope that one day I can maybe get close to my grandmother's tasty creations. Here is one basic recipe how such vegetarian pasties can be made, but no doubt that I will be posting similar recipes again.

Ingredients

½ cup brown rice

1 vegetable stock cube

½ cup dried soya mince

1 shallot

1 garlic clove

1 tsp olive oil

Salt

Ground black pepper

Smoked paprika

500 g puff pastry

1 egg

Method

Cook the rice with the vegetable stock cube and prepare the dried soya mince according to the instructions on the packet.

Chop the shallot and garlic finely and start cooking them in olive oil. Add the soya mince to the pan and season.

Mix the rice into the soya mince mix and let it all cool down.

Roll out the puff pastry thinly and beat the egg. Cut small circles or triangles from the pastry and fill the other half of each with the soya and rice mix.

Brush the edges with the egg wash and close the parcels with a fork. Brush them with the egg wash on the outside as well.

Bake at 180C for about 15 minutes until the pasties are golden brown.

Enjoy warm, or they are good even cooled down later.

Your VegHog