For a lot of us winter is the time for chunky knits, hot chocolate an cosy nights in watching Pixar movies (or maybe that’s just me), but mostly..it’s a time where we can all indulge in a bit of thick, stodgy food to warm our bellies and hearts!
Now I love a good bit of pasty and I’ve always wanted to make a lovely dinner pastry from scratch; so here I’ll go through this quick recipe that that tastes delicious and is sorta/kinda healthy. Enjoy and let me know if you plan on making this too!
(MAKES FOUR SERVINGS)
For the puff pastry
– 8oz plain flour
– 1 tsp salt
-1oz lard
– 150ml cold water
150g butter
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– 300g trimmed lamb fillet or lab steaks cut into 4 pieces
– 1tbsp olive oil
– 1 medium red onion; very thinly sliced
– I beaten egg to glaze
-mixed vegetables
How to make the puff pastry:
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Sift together the flour and the salt and rub in the lard. Stir in enough of the water to make a soft dough, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 20 minutes.
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Put the butter between 2 pieces of greaseproof paper and flatten out with a rolling pin until it is a rectangle 10 x 7.5cm/4 x 3in or something close to that.
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Roll out the dough to another rectangle that measures arouuuund 12.5 x 25cm/5 x 10in.
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Take the butter out of the paper and put on the dough rectangle. Bring the corners of the dough together to make an envelope. Chill for 10 minutes.
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Roll out the envelope on a floured surface to make a rectangle that is 3 times longer than it is wide. Fold one third into the middle and then the other third on top. Seal the edges lightly with a rolling pin and turn the pastry 90 degrees.
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Repeat stage 5 and chill for 30 minutes.
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Repeat this rolling and folding twice more and then chill for another 30 minutes and then do two more – the pastry will have been rolled and folded six times altogether.
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Now roll out on a floured surface ready to use!
OR…if you can’t be arsed with all that, you can by “Jus Rol” pre-prepared puff pastry from any supermarket and use that instead.
Step by step:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees (around gas mark 4/5).
2. Cut the lamb into 4 equal pieces, heat the oil in a frying pan and quickly seal the meat on all sides, remove from pan and allow to cool. Then add the onions to the pan and cook over a gentle heat until just soft, approx. 5 minutes. Remove from pan and drain and allow to cool on kitchen paper.
3. Cut the pastry into 4 equal rectangles. Divide the cooked onions between the pastry pieces, placing them on one half, then top with a lamb piece on each.
4. Brush the edges lightly with a beaten egg and bring the uncovered half up and fold it over the filling, pressing the edges firmly together to seal. Trim edges with a sharp knife and flute if desired. Make several cuts in the top to allow the steam to escape and also for decoration. Brush with beaten egg, place on a lined baking tray and bake for 20 minutes. Serve hot with veggies or even butternut squash!