Meatless Monday: Vegetable Pasties

When I lived in Australia, vegetable pasties were a favorite take-out food. We would have them with everything from a serving of fries, to a plate of vegetables or salad, or simply serve them with tomato sauce for dipping. They are one of the foods I had been missing most since moving overseas, so it encouraged me to start making them at home.

The ones we have are generally individual hand-held pies, which are shaped like a half circle, however, I find this way, which looks similar to a Stromboli, to be much quicker and easier to do. It’s also perfect for serving for family dinner, or when home entertaining. Guests can take as much (or as little) as they like, and the recipe below makes three. So if you don’t use them all, freeze them for later, just remember to reheat in the oven as the microwave will make the pastry soft.

Ingredients

1 sheet Puff Pastry thawed (per pasty) – there is enough filling in the recipe to make 3.
2 baking potatoes
2 shallots, finely diced
2 carrots, finely diced
1/2 cup sweet green peas
3 tbs olive oil
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 egg, whisked
pinch of salt & pepper

Directions

preheat the oven to 400F and line a baking tray with baking paper
dice the potatoes and add to a pot of boiling water, once softened, roughly mash, and then set aside to cool a little – you don’t want a smooth consistency so no need to add milk, butter, or anything else to them
in a bowl combine the mashed potatoes, carrot, peas, shallots, thyme, nutmeg, turmeric, and salt & pepper
cut the puff pastry sheet in half, and add a pile of filling to the center of one side of pastry leaving a little over a centimeter of space around the outside
brush egg around the space you left free of filling, place the other sheet of pastry on top, press the sides together, and then using a fork press grooves all the way around the edge
use a sharp knife to cut slits (in portions for dishing up) across the top of pasty
place on the baking paper and pop into the oven for 30-35 minutes.