Greek Style Mini Minced Beef & Cheese Pasties
Ingredients
Pastry:
500g Self raising flour
8 tbsp Melted salted butter
440g Yogurt, Greek obviously!
Salt to taste
Filling:
500g Minced beef
3 tbsp olive oil
2 Onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp Chopped parsley
1 egg
2 tbsp Strained yogurt
200g of feta cheese broken into crumbs
150g grated cheese such as cheddar
Salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper
A glass of water, fork and a pastry brush to help seal the pasties
To Glaze the Pasties:
1 egg yolk mixed with a little milk of desired, or just use egg yolk alone.
Sesame seeds - Optional
Method
Pastry:
1. First we make the pastry, starting by mixing the flour with any additional salt you are using in a large bowl.
2. Next you add the melted butter and rub it in wth your fingers until the flour and butter are thoroughly combined.
3. Add the yogurt, mix and then place the mixture on a board to gently knead until it becomes a smooth dough. Once this is achieved, stop, otherwise the pastry will become overworked and hard when baked.
4. Wrap the pastry in cling film and place it in the fridge for an hour to rest.
Filling:
1. Firstly, heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan over medium to high heat.
2. Fry the minced meat so that it cooks and changes color completely for about 5 minutes. It may take a little longer but it needs to be completely browned.
3. Add the onions to the meat and continue to fry until they become transparent on a medium heat for 4-5 minutes.
4. Add the salt, pepper and parsley, mix and remove from the heat. This has to be a dry mixture so ensure there is no liquid in the minced meat. Set this aside to cool.
5. Whilst the minced meat mixture is cooling, beat the egg and yogurt in a bowl using a whisk, then stir in the grated cheese.
6. Finally, add the minced meat to the cheese and mix well so that the ingredients are well combined.
Assembly & Baking:
1. Preheat the oven. These pasties bake at 180c/350f/Gas Mark 4
2. Now it is time to assemble the pasties. Start by dividing the pastry into 3 parts and roll them into balls. It is easier to manage the dough and save space!
3. Using a rolling pin, flatten each of the balls to about ¼ cm thick on a floured surface.
4. Use a glass or cutter with a diameter of about 7cm, cut round discs of pastry. You can make them bigger or smaller to taste, this is your choice, though smaller may be a challenge.
TIP: don’t waste your spare pastry dough, roll it back into a ball, flatten it and make as many little discs of pastry that you can.
5. Now fill the pasties by taking a teaspoon of filling and put it into the middle of each disc, one by one.
6. Fold each of the discs into a crescent or pasty shape, press the edges together with a fork dipped in water to seal.
7. Place the pasties on to a baking sheet, lined with baking paper and make sure you give them a little room to expand whilst they are baking.
8. Brush each pasty with the egg yolk and sprinke with some sesame seeds if using and then bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden.
TIP: this recipe will make as many as 50 little pasties, which is great, but if there are too many for today, the uncooked ones freeze brilliantly and they will cook from frozen.
