In the WW2 recipe book ‘Good Eating’ published in the 1940s by the ‘Daily Telegraph’ and which included wartime recipes tried and tested by readers, I came across a recipe for ‘Kentish Pasties’.

This particular recipe, according to the reader, was for a popular pasty distributed by mobile canteens and pie stations at Sevenoaks Rural District during the war.

Using the ingredients in the recipe, I was able to make three huge pasties which could easily be cut in two, one half  for your dinner (served with veggies and gravy) and one half for your lunch the next day (although I am sure if you were working on the land a whole pasty for lunch would be appreciated)  I also added two teaspoons of Marmite and one chopped leek which added to the flavour as it was a little bland without.

Overall I found this very filling and tasty!

Kentish Pasties

Filling

• 1/4 lb of boiled rice
• 4 oz grated cheese
• 2 oz raw grated carrot
• Salt and pepper

Carolyn’s extra ingredients

• 1 leek chopped finely
• 2 teaspoons of Marmite

 

Pastry

• 12 oz flour
• 3 oz cooking fat/margarine or butter
• Pinch salt
• Water to mix.

 

Method

The original recipe calls for the filling ingredients to be mixed together well and then placed on the pastry and formed into pasties.

To improve the flavour, once the rice was cooked I placed a knob of butter in a pan and when it was hot added the chopped leek and sauted and then added the rice and mixed well. I then removed from the heat and mixed in the raw grated carrot, grated cheese and two teaspoons of Marmite and a little extra salt and pepper.

I rolled out the pastry into three rounds about the size of a large side plate and damped all the edges with water and placed a third of the mixture in the middle of each tapering out at each end and then brought the pastry up and over and created the frill with my two fingers.

The pasties took about 30 minutes to cook in a pre-heated oven at 200 C.

Makes 3 extra large pasties or 6 small ones!