Pork Pasties While Having To Make Do

Pork Pasties While Having To Make Do

One Saturday about a year ago, I was having people over for dinner and was planning to serve pasties. I went to the store and picked out a nice piece of boneless pork country ribs. I like that cut for pork pasties because you get a lot of meat for the price. I went from the meat counter to the produce section to get the rest of the ingredients. That’s were the problem occurred.

One of the things I like best about pasties is the rutabaga flavor that shines through. To me, rutabagas are essential for good pasties. I looked and I looked, no rutabagas. Darn. I even asked and the produce guy said, “Sorry, we’re out of rutabagas.” He had a look on his face that indicated he couldn’t fathom why anyone in their right mind would even want a rutabaga.

Well, time was short and I had to improvise. I saw they did have a bag of small white turnips. I bought those and went home to make dinner. All in all, everyone was happy and the pasties were good. The turnips were similar enough in flavor to the rutabaga so that they worked just fine.

3-1/2 cups of flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

1 cup of olive oil (approximate)

water

1-1/4 lb. of boneless pork country ribs

3 medium sized turnips

1 medium onion

1 carrot

6 medium to large potatoes

1 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning

1 tsp. cajun seasoning

1 tsp. white pepper

corn meal

Preparation

Add the flour, salt and smoked paprika to a large mixing bowl. Add about a half cup of olive oil and stir with a fork. Keep adding the olive oil and stirring until the flour has the texture of little pebbles. Add water a little at a time until the pasty dough comes together. You want it to be wet enough to knead easily. Form it into a dough ball and place it in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. 

Slice the pork in small thin slices and place it in a large mixing bowl. Using a food processor, chop the peeled turnips, onion, carrot and potatoes so that the pieces are roughly the size of a kernel of corn. Don’t get all hung up on getting the size perfect. Just chop vegetables and place them in the bowl. Add the seasonings and mix well.

Roll out pieces of dough into circles about 10” in diameter. Put the ruler away! Don’t measure, guess. Place about two cups of the pork mixture on one half of the circle. Fold it over and roll up the edges of the dough with a twist.

Place the pasties on cookie sheets which have been sprinkled with corn meal. Use a knife and make four slits in the top of each pasty. Bake at 370º for about an hour.

Serving

Place a pasty on each plate. Add a pile of sautéed broccoli next to the pasty. You’ll also want a bowl of pea soup to start out the meal and, of course, fresh baked bread and butter. I like red Zinfandel from California with my pasties, so, you will too.