180g Self Raising and Strong Flour 40/60
36g butter (20%)
salt and white pepper
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
70ml approx water

Filling as per your taste (two pasties)

Many pastry recipes come from 19th Century France with up to 60% fat to flour. Eating one of those would be too much for me. This pastie recipe uses some self-raising flour so less fat is needed. A pastie should be something eaten on the go after all, so slightly chewy just as you would expect from the shop bought version.

Work the butter into the flour and add the seasoning and seeds, mixing in just enough water to make the paste smooth. Flatten into two thick rounds (150g each approx) and chill in the fridge if possible.

For the filling a couple of chunks of cooked beef and gravy left over from a stew is perfect. Finely chopped carrots in a pyrex jug and microwave for 2 minutes. Add chopped raw potato and back in for a few more minutes. Top up the jug with cold water to rinse out some potato starch and sieve. Return to jug, then add the beef, raw chopped onion, salt, plenty of coarse black pepper, and a knob of butter. Another minute to soften the beef, then mash the beef to shreds and loosely mix the whole lot. Add a dash more water if needed to acheive a wettish mix that will still stand up. Add a few frozen peas.

Roll out the pastry. I use a 200mm bowl to trim the pastry closer to a true round, and wet around the edge with water. Add the filling fold from the outsides to the middle, up and over the filling to a half circle sealing around. Stand it up on the base and work joins to seal. Trim off any excess pastry at the ends and reseal, fluting the join if you know how. Egg wash if you want.

Into the oven for 20 mins at 180C. Remove and cool for 5 minutes before eating..