Vegetable and “cheese” pasties

• Preparation Time 20 Minutes plus 30 Minutes for chilling pastry
• Baking Time 25 Minutes
• Makes 4

Vegan, gluten-free, vegetarian, nut-free and dairy-free

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There are sometimes for me, that I crave a pasty. Living here in the Westcountry we are known for our delicious pasties. It is that crispy pastry crust filled with a perfectly seasoned soft hot filling. I avoided making a cheese and vegetable one for so long as the quality of the cheese was not good enough or strong enough to shine through. Pasties are the ultimate transportable food and are delicious eaten both hot or cold.

The reason I have started to make mine as it is almost impossible to get a both vegan and gluten-free pasty if you are out and about. I have even been told by one baker that I need to book 24hours in advance.

• Crispy
• Hot
• Filling
• Satisfying
• Savoury

It ticks all my boxes for a naughty lunch. I know it is not the healthiest of foods so I try and pack as much goodness as I can into them.

Gluten-free pastry

There is so much fear in making gluten-free pastry and I can understand why. It does not behave as well as the non- vegan one. It is certainly less forgiving with being pulled around. Once you master the skill and learn to work around it then it becomes less scary.

Pastry likes the cold, too much heat will ruin your pastry dough, the less time your hands touch it the better because of the heat from them. It’s why I recommend the pastry blender/cutter. At less than £10 online it does save time. I used Dove Farm plain flour for this, flora block vegan butter and some vegetable shortening.

The flax egg

Using the linseed mixture replaces using an egg. It gives the pastry more stability

The filling

This is something you can play around with. You could add a spoonful of pickle to this filling, it works so well. Play around with the veggies and use the ones that you really like. I have a few different pasty recipes that will be up on the blog shortly.

Ingredients

Pastry

• 300g of gluten-free plain flour
• 1 tsp of xanthan gum
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp of ground flaxseeds
• 3 tbsp of warm water
• 3-4 tbsp of ice- cold water
• 100g of vegan butter
• 50g of Trex (vegetable shortening)

The filling

• 2 large potatoes
• 1 small onion
• 1 small crushed garlic (optional)
• 2 carrots
• 1/2 a small swede
• 1/4 cup of frozen peas
• 125g of vegan cheese
• A few sprigs of thyme leaves only
• salt and pepper
• A small amount of extra butter

Instructions

1. Line a large oven tray with baking parchment.
2. In a large bowl sieve in the flour, salt and xanthan gum. Mix the ground linseeds with the 3 tbsp of hot water and leave to one side.
3. Cut the butter and vegetable shortening up into small lumps and add the flour. Using a pastry cutter or your hands, work the fats into the dry mix until it resembles large breadcrumbs. Give the linseed mixture a quick stir and add it to the bowl along with 2 tbsp of ice-cold water and stir together with a round blade knife. If you need to add more water add it in small amounts. Using your hands bring the pastry into a smooth ball. Wrap up tight (I use a vegan wrap) and place it into the fridge for half an hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 175C
5. While the pastry is chilling chop all the vegetables up into small pieces and add to a bowl along with the cheese, peas and chopped thyme leaves. Season well and toss together making sure everything is combined.
6. Divide the pastry into 4 pieces and start by rolling the first piece into a circle. As a size guide, I suggest a small side plate. Place in on a floured sheet of baking parchment and roll out. Place some filling on one side of the pastry and add a few dots of vegan butter on top. Brush the edges and carefully fold one side over the filling and press down the edges. Pressing around the edge with a fork gives you a secure sea. It is not necessary to brush the pasties with a vegan egg wash but I love to. It is the simplest of alternatives. I use aquafaba (chickpea water). Just brush over the uncooked pasties for that golden sheen.
7. Repeat with the other 3 others and place them on the lined baking tray. Place in the middle shelf of the oven for 40 minutes until lightly golden. If you find they are browning too much then place some kitchen roll over the top of them.

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If you like this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Twitter as @veganalchemist1 or my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/thegfveganalchemist I love seeing your versions of my recipes. Or I would love to hear your comments.