I often get my 1940s recipes from old cookbooks or through modern nostalgia publications, museum information, reliable sources on the internet and from listening to people who lived through the war…
However- sometimes the ingredients and quantities given can be quite wrong. I have discovered this as I cook my way through 100 authentic recipes… this means that the second or third time I cook a dish adjustments have to be made to ‘get it right’…
Here is a ‘cold meat pastie’ recipe from ‘Feeding the Nation’ by Marguerite Patten. The original quantity in the recipe called for 2 tablespoons of chopped cooked vegetables to make 4 pasties. There was no way this was enough- more like 2 tablespoons of chopped cooked vegetables per pastie. The recipe also originally called for 2 tablespoons of gravy or water- again not needed. Using this amount of liquid just doesn’t work…
Cold meat pasties
- Shortcrust pastry made with 8 oz flour, 4 oz fat and cold water to bind
- 8 oz cold meat minced (whatever you have spare- I use a mixture of sausage, bacon, minced beef or corned beef)
- 1 small onion chopped
- 8 tablespoons of cooked chopped vegetables
- 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
- 2 chopped tomatoes
- salt and pepper
- milk or egg to glaze
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 200 C
- Divide pastry into 4 pieces and roll out each piece into a circular shape a little larger than a saucer
- Mix the vegetables, onion and minced meat, Worcestershire sauce and seasoning together in a bowl
- Spoon the mixture into the middle or onto one side (depending on how you like your pastie to look)
- Apply water to edges before bringing together, flute the edges or use a fork to press together
- Prick a couple of times with knife or form
- Apply some milk or beaten egg to pastie
- Place on baking tray and cook for around 30 minutes until golden brown
Serve with salad or gravy and mash
Makes 4 pasties
Ideal the next day cold in lunch box!
