Great for a picnic or a warm hearty lunch on a winters day.
Pheasant Pasties
By Published: October 31, 2016
- Yield: 3 Servings
- Prep: 30 mins
- Cook: 1 hr 40 mins
- Ready In: 2 hrs 10 mins
Great for a picnic or a warm hearty lunch on a winters day.
Ingredients
- 500 grams ready made short crust pastry
- 1 pheasant
- 2 waxy potatoes peeled and grated on the large side of a cheese grater
- 1/2 small swede peeled and grated on the large side of a cheese grater
- 6 juniper berries crushed
- 8 sprigs fresh thyme leaves picked and finely chopped
- salt and pepper and a little flour
- 70 grams salted butter
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 tbsp Cornish clotted cream optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F/190c or Gas mark 5.
Roast the pheasant for about 20 minutes. This will make it much easier to cut/pull the meat off it.
- Once the bird has cooled enough to touch, peel of all the skin and discard. Using a sharp knife or pull it apart with a fork pull off the meat both breasts, and legs. Carefully cut as much meat as possible off the legs, taking care not to include any small bones.
- Cut the meat into a rough dice.
Toss the meat with the juniper berries and thyme. Season with a little salt and pepper.
Roll out the dough if not already rolled out, with the pastry being about 1/4” thick.
Take a 6” dish, and place on the dough. Cut around the dish to form a pastry disc. Do this as many times as the pastry allows
- Put a layer or two of potato and turnip down – leaving a 1/2” border around the edge (room for crimping). Top with some of the pheasant meat.
Add a couple of small cubes of butter (or if you are feeling very extravagant a knob of clotted cream) and sprinkle the top of the meat with a little flour.
Brush the pastry edges with a little water. Bring both edges up to the top of the pasty and press the edges together tightly.
Now for the crimping: Starting at one end of the edge. For a classic crimp, use one finger to push one side the pastry Pinch around that finger with the finger and thumb of your other hand to create a scalloped effect.
- Brush the outsides with a little of the beaten egg. On both sides of the pasty cut a short (1”) hole to let steam out.
Repeat until all the meat is used up.
This dough recipe will make about 4 to 5 pasties.
Put the pasties on a baking lined with the greaseproof paper which comes with the pastry if you buy ready rolled.
Crank the oven up to 425F/ 220c or Gas mark 7 and bake for 20 minutes.
Turn the oven down to 320F/160c or Gas mark 3 and bake for a further 40 minutes.
Allow to cool slightly before eating; the insides will be really hot.
