Seasonal Pumpkin and Leek Pasties (Vegan MoFo)

I can’t believe this is the last week of Vegan MoFo 2013! I’ve really enjoyed researching British classic recipes to make vegan and share with you all and I’ve enjoyed browsing everyone elses themes! To kick off this last week I am sharing a British Pasty recipe!

Cornish pasties are so delicious and another ‘eat by the beach’ sort of meal. Traditionally they were eaten by miners who worked in dark damp conditions with no means to wash the dust and metal off their hands. The thick crust edge would provide the miners with something to hold on to whilst eating the pasty and then the crust would be discarded.

Pasties are traditionally filled with root vegetables and meat with a gravy to keep everything warm and moist. Back in the day they used to make a pasty with two sides, one side for the main course and one side for a pudding (usually stewed fruit and custard). This would keep the miners going until they could go home for dinner.

I used a pastry recipe that my mum passed over to me and I decided to try using gluten free flour because I am enjoying being able to offer this alternative but unfortunately my first attempt was a disaster! The pastry just crumbled instead of folding and I realised that to make it gluten free I would require some other form of binding agent like xantham gum. So for the purpose of purely making these vegan I ended up using normal plain flour! I will try a gluten free version again soon 🙂

The pastry was really easy to make and was deliciously light and flaky!

I originally was going to make traditional potato, onion and cheese but when I was in the supermarket I got very distracted by a huge pile of seasonal pumpkins! Then I added leeks, onions, mushrooms and ‘cheese’ to create the ultimate filling.

Makes 6 large pasties

Pastry-
150g cold vegan margarine
350g plain flour
Large pinch of fine sea salt
3-4 tbs cold water

Filling-
1 Leek
1/4 Pumpkin
1 Small onion
4 mushrooms
4 handfuls grated hard vegan cheese
Seasoning
Handful herbs such as basil

Splash of vegan milk as a glaze.

To make the pastry sift the flour into a large bowl with the salt and add the butter in cubes. Using your fingers rub the butter into the flour until it looks like fine breadcrumbs.
Add the water and bring the pastry together with your hands until it is smooth. Tip it out on to a floured surface and knead briefly then wrap it up in cling film and put in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile chop your vegetables in to really small diced pieces and mix together with the other filling ingredients in a bowl ready to go in the pasties. I actually chopped waay too many vegetables for the filling by using a whole pumpkin, 2 onions, 8 mushrooms etc so I simply added the leftovers to a soup. Probably better to have too much rather than not enough 🙂

Preheat your oven to 180c

When your pastry is rested roll it out to around 0.5cm thickness and cut into 8inch circumference circles. Place a handful of the filling into the centre of each circle and then brush a little water around the edges. Fold the pastry over the filling and seal it shut by pressing the edges down with your fingers.

Brush the tops with a little non dairy milk then place them on a baking tray and cook in the oven for 25 minutes. Different ovens will vary so they will be done when they are firm and the pastry is golden brown.

I served these after cooling them for 5 minutes to my husband Scott and his friend Al and they went down a treat! They wouldn’t let me take a photo of them but I was so happy when I walked in and they were sat in silence tucking in with smiles on their faces 🙂 definitely a lovely moment!

These can be frozen and will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days. You can also make smaller pasties and they make a great lunchbox snack!