How to Make Cheese & Onion Pasties

The first ingredient in any recipe is a kitchen in which to cook. This week's recipe is a little late in publication because I was missing that essential ingredient for a few days. I have cooked so many recipes that I had worn my kitchen floor out and had to have it replaced. Well that is my excuse anyway.

Last week we made Corned Beef Pasties; this week we are staying with the pastie theme but the filling has changed to cheese and onion. And very tasty they are too.

Ingredients

• High-rise puff pastry
• 2 large potatoes
• 1 medium onion
• 125g cheese

Preparation

The filling:

• Peel, cook and mash the potatoes. You could use instant mashed potato but the ghosts of a thousand chefs wielding 2-man Henckels (kitchen knives) would chase you out of any decent kitchen.
• Dice the onion and fry it in butter until soft but not browned.
• Grate the cheese. I used cheddar but you could substitute your favourite if you wish.
  
• Mix the mashed potato, onion and cheese thoroughly and set to one side to cool

The pastry:

• If you know how to make good high-rise pastry and you have the patience to do it you don't need any help here. I used professionally made frozen pastry from a commercial bakery.
• Roll the pastry out into squares big enough for the size of pasties you wish to make
• Place a generous helping of filling on one side of each square of pastry
• Fold and seal the edges
• Bake at 350C until the pastry has risen and turned a rich golden colour

John's Notes
As I write this recipe in the blog I am still savouring the fabulous flavour of these pasties. High-rise pastry swells quite a lot during baking and makes the pasties look like a formidable portion on your plate. But don't be discouraged; even though the pastie looks like a lot to digest, the pastry is very light, flaky and delicious.

You might be surprised that the recipe includes potato but that is the way that cheese and onion pasties are traditionally made. If these pasties contained only cheese and onion, the cheese would melt and leave the inside of the pastie hollow and unsatisfying; the potato maintains the consistency of the filling.