The power of pastry

 I MADE PASTRY!!!! I can’t believe it! Be prepared for me to go on about this for a long time!! Having said that, I am in no rush to make it again... it was so bloody stressful. 

I decided to give pasties a go, slightly in honour of my holiday to Cornwall last week but also because Laura’s leek, pancetta, cheese and onion pasty sounded amazing! Would be easy right? 

I’ve watched nearly every cooking and baking show, seen countless amateurs and professional chef attempt making pastry, yet I still had no idea what I was doing. I found it difficult to work out what the consistency should be. sticky or dry? No idea! Let alone adding the butter and then folding and laminating the pasty, I’ve seen it done a million times but this was something else. 

After all the effort making the pastry and getting it into the fridge, I definitely deserved a short coffee break before starting on the filling. My house smelt incredible! The filling consisted of leek, cheese, onion, pancetta, onion, cream, Dijon mustard and chilli flakes. Simple.

 

The light at the end of the tunnel was to start putting the pasties together. I struggled at first to roll the pastry and get the right thickness but after a few goes it start to flow easier. It’s crazy that you feel you have so much filling and pastry but actually it all seem to disappear into 8 pasties so quickly. 

I loved how golden brown and crispy the pastry came out with the crimped edge still visible. Not to brag, especially after I’ve now made pastry, but the reviews from the family have been pretty amazing saying it’s one of the best pasties they ever had and my parents are trained chefs!! I cannot tell you how excited I am to have my pasty for lunch at work tomorrow 🤎