TATT – method and hints and tips

Pre-heat oven 180 fan/200c/Gas 6.

Unroll your puff pastry sheet and cut into six circles, using a ring that is at least the same diameter as the tin – it can be slightly larger. Spoon the toffee apple mixture into your tins and then add a puff pastry circle, tucking it into the tin.

Bake for 25 minutes.

When you are ready to serve – I would suggest you use a dessert bowl – place it over the tin and flip it – ensuring you do so away from yourself.

Serve with clotted cream or ice cream – or both!

I've used these “toffee apples” as a base for a crumble with pecans but originally it belongs to the tarte tatin. If you have toffee apples going spare they are delicious warm over ice cream.

You can make individual servings, just the job for a supper or dinner party, or one large version. A safety note. I've seen cooks and chefs make a tarte tatin in a frying pan suitable for the oven. One slip when you're flipping and it could be very nasty so my advice would be treat yourself to the right piece of kit for the job.

Mine measures 22cms x 5.5cms or

9”x2¼” in old money!

It would make a change from apple pie or crumble after your Sunday lunch – hmm.

Before we move on from the portable pastries

This is the end of the portable pastries series, at least for a while, but just before we go I thought you might enjoy a speed treat of the sweet kind, using the PPS.

Toffee Apple Tarte Tatin

aka TATT

6-8 large Cox's apples, peeled, cored and sliced

115g unsalted butter

125g soft dark brown sugar

1 orange, zest and juice

One ready to use 1 x 320g puff pastry sheet.

6 individual circular tins measuring 10cms/4” in diameter.

Place the apples, butter, soft dark brown sugar, orange zest and juice into a large frying pan and cook for 10 minutes until tender.

If you forget to buy a fresh orange 4 tablespoons of pure orange juice is the equivalent amount from the whole fruit.

You can cook the apples ahead and freeze them, ready to use at your convenience.

Method up next …

Three Cheese Pastizzi Photos

Here they are : 

A perfect pillow of cheese and puff pastry

Two bits – gone!

Last week I was visiting my Sister, nickname Whizzer because she zooms everywhere. I showed her the photos of the pastizzi and she was intrigued, such much so that she asked for a copy of the recipe. Whizzer is a busy girl and doesn't have much spare time but immediately began making a shopping list for the following day. I suggested it might be a good idea to make half the quantity i.e. one puff pastry sheet. Whizzer isn't a lover of mozzarella but I do happen to know that she always has mature cheddar cheese in her fridge and so suggested she use it instead – always remember rules are meant to be broken.

After I got home I messaged saying let me know how you go when you make the pastries. An immediate response said … “they don't last very long! Very tasty, like you said I halved the quantity and replaced the mozzarella with vintage cheddar, tested one and to be sure tested another!” I replied saying that testing is crucial and as the cook it falls to you. “It's a good job I only made half the quantity!”

Don't like mushy peas – curried or otherwise?

Worry not, I have an alternative – cheese or rather three cheeses in a pastizzi. If like me you're a fan of cheese the ultimate combination has to be encased in puff pastry. A marriage made in heaven!

Lets not mess around, here's the recipe :

Three Cheese Pastizzi

for 20 pastries

2 x 320g puff pastry sheets – 10 per sheet

10cm/4” cutter

300g/12oz ricotta cheese

70g/2oz grated Mozzarella

40g/1oz Parmesan, finely grated

½ tsp of Dijon mustard

celery salt and black pepper

1 egg, beaten – half to add to the mixture

half to seal and egg wash

Mash the ricotta in a medium mixing bowl until it's smooth – use a fork. Season with the mustard, salt and black pepper, stir and add half the beaten egg – mix well. Cover and fridge until ready for use.

Take your sheets out of the fridge and allow them to warm up – you'll get a cracked and split sheet if you try to unroll straight away.

Roll out the sheet – initially you should get six circles – gather the remnants and re-roll for a further four.

Place a level tablespoon of mixture in the middle of each circle. Brush half the circle with the beaten egg and fold up to seal. Edge the seal with a pastry fork and then egg wash.

Pre-heat your oven 200fan/220c/Gas 7.

Bake the pastizzi for 20 minutes.

If you'd prefer to make ahead and freeze, place the uncooked pastizzi on a tray lined with baking paper. Freeze for 2/3 hours or until firm and then transfer to a strong freezer bag – store for up to a month.

To cook – Pre-heat your oven as above. Flour two baking trays and place the frozen pastizzi, egg wash and then bake for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

The method of assembly is exactly as for the pea pastizzi so I'm not going to repeat it. Photos of the mixture et al that you haven't seen are up next.

Pastizzi bonus bits and the feedback

Pastizzi freeze very well. If you'd prefer this method then place the uncooked pastizzi on a tray lined with baking paper. Freeze for 2/3 hours or until firm and then transfer into a strong freezer bag. They will keep for up to a month – if they last that long!

To cook from frozen, pre-heat your oven as mentioned previously. Flour the two baking trays and place the frozen pastizzi, bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

It just so happened that my friend Kerry was with me when I took the pastizzi out of the oven so I enlisted a new veggie taste tester. Verdict – lovely, light as a feather. I'll take that.

Later on that day I popped in to see other friends, Joss and Leanne and delivered the same treat. Shortly after leaving them I received a text … “yummy scrum”. I'll take that too.

My friend Morag just loves a PPS … “I have discovered that a puff pastry sheet is not just for Christmas and making sausage rolls, it's for making pizza puffs and cheese and onion slices to gain brownie points with friends, pay in kind – not in cash”.

I think Morag is going to be a very happy girl!

If you want to produce savoury morsels quickly, whether for entertaining at home with drinks or, as we've been talking about of late, for picnic or portable food but fast, then pastizzi definitely fits the bill. The joy of using a puff pastry sheet is the big fat tick it gets for those of us who have a limited amount of time or, more to the point, no time at all!

I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Pastizzi Puff Pastry bake

More photos to help you :

Ready for the oven!

Pre-heat your oven 200fan/220c/Gas 7.

Bake the pastizzi for 20 minutes.

Here they are, fresh out of the oven and then cut in half – let them cool!

Ta dah – curried pea pastizzi – sounds much

better than pea pie!

Bonus bits and the feedback coming up.

Pastizzi - onion and spice mix and the method

Next up the mix :

Heat the oil in a large frying pan until hot. Cook the onion and garlic for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the curry powder, celery salt and black pepper and fry for a further 30 seconds. Place in a container with a lid, cool and then fridge until ready for use.

The photos so far :

Take your pastry sheets out of the fridge and allow them to get to room temperature – you'll get a cracked and split sheet if you try to unroll straight away.

You will need two baking trays, floured and a round straight sided cutter 10cms/4” in diameter. Unroll the sheet – initially you should get six circles – gather the remnants and re-roll for a further four - a total of 10 pastizzi per PPS.

Place a level tablespoon of mixture in the middle of each circle. Brush half the circle with the beaten egg and fold up to seal. Edge the seal with a pastry fork and then egg wash. Do not overfill – use your pastry fork to flatten the filling, it will make it easier to fold and seal – follow the instructions and photos given in “The pastry fork and the dainty” and “The “dew” and the dainty bake” if you'd like to see a step by step photo guide.

The beauty of using a sheet is that it's already flat

– I'd give it a quick once over with a rolling pin just

for the fun of it

For more photos and Pastizzi Puff Pastry bake, read on …

Pastizzi

The dainty has reminded me of many holidays in Malta and Gozo, many moons ago. Most of us who are interested in food in whatever form – cooking it or eating it – remember stand out delights and the nostalgia that goes with it.

Pastizzi are traditional small pies or more accurately pastries usually made with mushy peas or ricotta cheese, these delicious snacks are baked in a pastizzeria – small family businesses – and sold in bars, cafés and by street sellers – long before street food became fashionable. I loved them both so I thought I'd re-visit and share the results with you.

If you like the idea of miniature pies or pastries but don't have the time or the inclination to make pastry, then I may have the answer. Our old friend the puff pastry sheet - aka “PPS”.

This recipe is for a curried pastizzi and comes in two stages, soaking and cooking the peas and then adding the onion and spice mix.

Makes 20 pastizzi

2 x 320g Puff pastry sheets

2 eggs, beaten to seal the pastries and

egg wash

175g split peas

1 tbsp of rapeseed oil

1 small brown onion, finely diced

2 cloves of roasted garlic

3 tsps of curry powder – mild or medium

celery salt and black pepper

The mushy peas

You can buy quick soak dried peas, they only take two hours. Incidentally here's your source of fibre not to mention low fat and low sugar. You get two bicarb soaking tablets – why two - so that if you decide to soak half the quantity you have a tablet for each half. A whole packet of peas is 250g.

Soaking

Tip the peas into a medium/large mixing bowl, with the soaking tablets and pour 850ml/1½ pints of boiling water over the peas. Stir them and leave for two hours, drain and rinse.

Cooking on the stove

Place the peas in a medium/large saucepan and add 425ml/¾ pint of boiling water. Add a teaspoon of sugar and salt. Boil gently for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until the water has been absorbed or the peas are tender. Transfer the peas to a container with a cover and when cooled fridge until ready for use. You may find it useful to cook the peas the day before you want to use them.

You don't have to add the onion and spice mix – it's entirely a matter of taste.

Coming next … the onion and spice mix and the method.

The “dew” and the dainty bake

Place the dainties on a floured baking tray making sure you leave space between each pastry. Now for the “dew” - the double egg wash. Egg wash each dainty – remember where you begin – leave for a couple of minutes, then repeat.

they look fab, even before the bake!

Bake in a hot oven – 200fan/220c/Gas 7 for 15 minutes, then turn off your oven and leave for another 5 minutes. Don't forget to set your timer!

Here they are :

I love it when a plan ...

A pleasure to make and a greater pleasure to eat. A word of warning – tempted though you may be allow them to cool – you'll be sorry if you don't!

The pastry fork and the dainty

You can crimp the edge or, here's another idea.

Say hello to your new best friend and the latest in the kitchen kit category – a tiny pastry fork – aka a cake fork. It's a win win – small, doesn't take up space and inexpensive. You can spend as much or as little as you want. I bought mine from IKEA - £5.50 for six.

it measures 14cms/5½” in length

The pastry fork is the perfect tool to edge your dainty – the fork is small and easy to control. You get a neat and even edge.

Have a look : 

A great result – the “dew” and the bake up next.

The dainty

“Dainty” meaning pleasing to the taste; choice; delicious. A smaller version of the original pasty, again ideal for a picnic, a lunch box or a survival kit so perfectly portable or just because you like them!

Use a quarter of the pasty pastry and roll out on a floured surface and using a cutter (or the top of a cup) – you'll get eight per quarter – 3”/8cms in diameter, may be even 9. I love making these “dainty morsels” - it's a kind of therapy – I think I need to get out more!

Anyway, here's the recipe :

Cheese and Onion Dainty

filling

1 medium or half a large onion, finely diced

50g finely grated Parmesan

celery salt and black pepper

sprinkle of dried parsley

Combine all the above ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Use approximately 10g of mixture and place in the centre of your pastry circle. Dampen the edge of half the circle and fold to seal.

The step by step photos so far :

There's more ...

Pasty bits and pieces

Last year we went to Padstow on holiday. We love to arrive ahead of time, park, and wander - just what you need after a long journey. Our custom is to eat in on the first night and part of the “wander” is to check out where the nearest fish and chip shop is in relation to where we're staying. We had a fab house in New Street, just three doors up from St. Petroc's Bistro one of Rick Stein's restaurants. The chippy was literally a few yards further down the hill – if I'd have shouted our order they'd have heard me – result!

A small tip – don't order a Cornish Pasty from a chippy, I did and it was not a good experience. Hey ho, can't win 'em all. Never let it be said that I shirk my culinary duties and the next day I found The Chough Bakery, 3 The Strand, Padstow PL28 8AJ – on the Quayside. Chough is a small family run bakery and has been around for nearly 30 years – well qualified! I purchased a vegetarian Cornish Pasty, it was fantastic and wasn't the only one eaten during the week. You can always tell how good a bakery is by the queue. I also bought pasties to bring home.

Note to self – check out the local bakeries first!

During my research for this series I read that pasties keep hot for a long time – not rocket science I know – but apparently if you want them to keep hot even longer wrap them straight from the oven in either greaseproof or baking paper and then a clean tea towel. The story went on saying that a pasty made in Helston would still be “hot” when arriving in Exeter. Sounds a bit like a fairy story. It takes 2 hours to drive from Helston to Exeter and approximately 100 miles.

Whilst I didn't drive the distance I did wrap a pasty as it said and left it for two hours. Guess what … it does work and the pasty, whilst not piping hot was more than warm – sounds ridiculous, is there such a temperature between warm and hot?

I hope you've enjoyed this series on the humble pasty. Simple, tasty fare which deserves all its accolades. Perfect portable food!

I'm sure you won't be surprised to know that I've a few more “pasty” ideas for the portable food slot – watch this space.

The baking and the cutting

Make sure you sprinkle flour on your baking tray, it prevents sticking. Pre-heat your oven 200fan/220c/Gas 7.

Baking a meat pasty

Bake for 30 minutes and check. Turn the

tray and bake for a further 20 minutes. Turn off the oven

and leave the pasties in, with the oven door closed for

another 15 minutes.

If you find that your pasties are brown enough after

the 30 minutes turn the oven down to 140fan/160c/Gas 3

for the following 20 minutes.

Baking a veggie pasty

I used a fan oven and baked for 20 minutes, then

turned the tray for a further 20 minutes, turned off the

oven and left, with door closed, for a further 10 minutes

Here they are : 

baked and beautiful – even though I say so myself!

anyone fancy a pasty?

In a word – yum!

Crimpinology

Like I said, you don't have to achieve a perfect circle – the crimping hides all the imperfections – have a look :

Here's the pastry folded over the filling and pressed down

firmly into a semi circle – sort of!

To crimp is to compress into small folds. To become a competent crimper takes lots of practice – be brave and have a go!

Have the pasty in front of you as illustrated in the photo above. If you are right handed begin on the right – on the left if you are left handed. Fold the corner end of the pasty over, place your thumb into the fold – this will help give you an even crimp, fold the pastry edge over and over towards you and continue until you reach the other end, tuck the end underneath and press to seal. Complete by making a small incision in the top of the pasty to release the steam.

They look like this :

Crimped and ready to egg wash

Egg washed and ready for the oven

Nearly there!

Step by step pasty pastry photos

Flour your surface well, unwrap your

dough

Cut your dough into four equal pieces

Don't stress if you don't achieve a perfect circle

Layer your meat and/or veggies as you prefer in the centre of the pastry. Moisten one half of your circle with water.

It looks like this :

Now for the tricky bit – the crimping – what I call crimpinology!

The end is in sight!

Here's a photo of the veggie filling :

You know how I like to mess about and hopefully make – in this case a pasty – a bit different. I've added a mornay sauce to the veggies, a stiff mornay sauce, you don't want it leaking through your pastry.

If you're interested, here's the recipe :

Mornay Sauce

20g unsalted butter

20g plain flour

300ml of milk – I use semi skimmed

75g mature Cheddar cheese

(or a combination of Cheddar and gruyere)

salt and black pepper

¼ tsp Dijon mustard - optional

Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the flour. Cook gently for a minute, stirring – make sure you don't brown the mixture. Gradually add the milk whisking constantly and eventually bring to the boil, whisking until it's smooth and thick. Lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes, then add the cheese, mustard and season. I'd taste before you add salt – there's salt in the cheese – adjust accordingly.

This recipe will give you 420g of sauce – add 2 heaped tablespoons to your veggies and fold through. Cover and fridge until required. You'll have 280g of sauce left – the world is your Cornish pasty – serve extra sauce warmed in a jug on the side or freeze it – ready to use with another dish on another day! A fish pie gets my vote.

Back to the pasty

Flour your pastry board. Cut your pastry into four equal pieces. Roll out one into a circle, flip your pastry and turn it as you go, re-flour if you need to. You want a circle of 8-9” (21-23cms). If you're not good at rolling pastry measure the diameter of either a bowl or a plate to the size given and use, upturned, to get a perfect circle.

Step by step pastry photos next.

The Cornish pasty recipes – the filling

The traditional filling – per pasty

50g/2oz onion

50g/2oz turnip or swede

100g/4oz beef skirt, blade or chuck steak

150g/6oz sliced potatoes

salt and black pepper

Make sure the meat is free of fat and cut into similar sized pieces ¼” (6mm) and ensure that the turnip and onion is too. Cut your potatoes into quarters and then finely slice. You can submerge the potatoes in a bowl of cold water until you're ready to mix your filling together – drain and pat dry. Slice the onion and turnip to a similar size.

You have two options, layer each of the ingredients and season as you go then complete with a layer of potato. Don't salt the last layer, you'll affect the taste of the pastry.

Alternatively place all your ingredients in a large mixing bowl, season and mix well, cover and set aside to rest whilst you're rolling out the pastry. This option allows the ingredients to absorb all the flavours.

That's the recipe for a pasty with meat, here's mine without :

Veggie Pasty filling

sufficient for two pasties

100g/4oz leek

100g/4oz onion

150g/6oz sliced potatoes

celery salt

black pepper

dried parsley

As with the previous recipe, ensure that the veggies are sliced to a similar size – ¼”/6mm. I used a new potato – the Gold, a Charlotte would be perfect too. The reason I used a new potato is that I wanted there to be evidence of the potato with the other veggies and not a mush. It's more appropriate with the meat and potato that an “old” variety of potato is used to combine with the meat and other ingredients. Mix the veggies together and season well.

More photos up next and the end is in sight!

The Cornish pasty – pastry photo guide

I've been careful to photograph each step for this iconic delicacy and rather than bombard you with heaps of photos at the end I'm giving you them in stages, which I think you'll find more helpful and less likely to make you want to throw in the towel and give up!

Hang in there, it's worth it.

your veggie alternative to lard

ready to rub in

 

it looks very strange!

now it looks like dough

 

ready to wrap

safely gathered in

the clean bowl speaks for itself

Now for the filling!

The Cornish pasty – the recipes

Here's the basic pastry recipe :

Pasty pastry

This recipe will give you four eight inch (21cms) pasties

450g/1lb strong white bread flour

large pinch of salt

100g/4oz of margarine

100g/4oz lard

175ml/3^rd pint water

cling film

Place the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add 25g/1oz of lard and rub into the flour. Grate or slice the rest of the fats into the bowl and stir, using a round bladed knife. Pour all the water into the bowl and mix together with the knife. Keep the dough in the bowl and using your hand bring the dough together and knead using the heel of your hand. Tip the dough onto a sheet of cling film and use the film to bring the dough together in a fat circle. Wrap the dough twice in cling film, bag and fridge. Chill it for at least 30 minutes.

Before we go any further I can hear you exclaiming – LARD! - what is she thinking. You don't have to use lard, for me and other vegetarians out there, use either Trex or Cookeen – panic over! The lard is part of the original recipe. I used unsalted butter instead of the margarine.

For those who are used to making pastry, no matter how basic, this will seem an odd method. I promise you it works. Not only does it work I'd say it's the best result I've ever had.

For example, it doesn't matter if you fridge it to chill for 30 minutes and, surprise surprise, you get distracted and remember two hours later. It does not affect the end result.

A tip – as you can see the recipe gives you four pasties from the batch of pastry. When you're ready to roll (sorry!) cut the pastry into four equal portions. At this stage you can please yourself – make two pasties and then wrap the remaining two separately in cling film, bag and freeze for another day.

Take the frozen pastry out of the freezer the night before you want it and fridge it.

It behaves impeccably – just as if freshly made.

Next up, a pastry photo guide so far.