Oyster mushroom and chestnut pasties

Not quite a cornish pastie, which is 'patented' by Cornwall and its ingredients has to be raw before baking.

One thing I like about Jamie Oliver’s cooking show is that his recipes are so robust  that he estimates most of the ingredients for his dishes. While one needs a certain degree of accuracy in the ways of the kitchen, I think some guesswork can be fun sometimes.  

So today, I pretend to be a Jamie Oliver and use mostly my hands to work out the main component of this pastie. I am rather careful with what does into the dough for repeatability purposes but otherwise I used my handy fingers to crush the chestnuts and potato. If I were Edward ScissorHands, I will use my fingers to cut the onions as well.

The sensation of butter, flour and floury bits of chestnut and potato is something to get used too. It is like playing in the mud, a no-no, but the sensation is , Ooh!

This concoction has a rather dry filling because I worry how a soggier version will work with the dough. The only bugbear is that it needs some effort to make the mass come together, which is where my ‘nimble’ fingers come in. The hot water dough is a dream to work with, because it is springy and pliable.

Goes well with Scarlet Division’s ‘Shooting Star’.

Credits : The Guardian with adaptations

3 big pasties.

Ingredients :

Pastie case :

65g cold butter butter

125g plain flour

30ml boiling water

1 egg, lightly beaten and salted,  as eggwash glaze

filling :

2 small onions, chopped

2 cups oyster mushroom, coarsely chopped

2 cups boiled chestnuts, partically crushed 

1 small potato, boiled, peeled and partially crushed

1 Tbsp of cream

salt and pepper to taste

Method :

To make pastie case, grate the cold butter over the plain flour. Rub butter into flour lightly to make crumbs.

Pour 30ml of hot water over the crumbs. Stir with a fork.

Knead until the dough comes together and becomes pliable and smooth, about 10 minutes. Dust your hand lighlty if the dough is too sticky to manage.

Make out 3 portions and set aside, covered.

To make the filling, saute onions, mushroom until onion is translucent and mushroom wilted.

Toss in chestnuts and potato. Combine with cream.

Season to taste. Leave it to cool.

Assembly :

Knead each individual portioned out dough for 1 minute.

Flatten it to a disc, about 1 handspan wide.

Spoon 1/3 of the filling onto the disc.

Fold the disc and encased the filling by sealing the edges of the paste.

Transfer to a greased pan.

Repeat for the other 2 pasties.

Baking :

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Apply eggwash on the pasties.

Bake the pasties at 200C for 20-25 minutes, until  the pasties are golden brown.

Serve hot with greens and chowder.