This recipe is so amazing and so tasty. I hope you try it because so good. This pasty recipe is divine old-fashioned comfort food cooking at its best! One recipe, two dishes!
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Tasty Mom’s Classic Meat Pasty & My Veggie Pasty
My family is a mix of vegetarians and meat-eaters so I cook in a hybrid recipe manner. I constantly look for and create recipes that are amenable to being half meat and half vegetarian in some way. I loved my mom’s pasty as a child. My mom is no longer alive so I can’t ask her for her recipe so I attempted to recreate it on my own. I added a few twists to make it fit my family’s needs and guessed at the ingredients. I was thrilled when I succeeded! The taste is identical to her dish and Mom’s Classic Meat Pasty & My Veggie Pasty recipe is the result of those recipe experiments.
We all cherish favorite recipes from our childhood. In my house everyone would rejoice at the first hint of their favorite dish being on the day’s menu. The aroma of it cooking brought a smile and great anticipation of the meal to all in the house. Thinking back on thoughts of those dishes bring warm fuzzies and happy memories to the forefront of our minds. Simply said the food makes us happy and puts us in a good mood. That food is this dish for me. This pasty dish reminds me of my mom and I’m right back there as a kid watching her serve it up. Truly it is a good memory for me.
The Meat and Veggie Ingredients
Mom’s Classic Meat Pasty & My Veggie Pasty is made with healthy vegetables so this dish is a great way to add vegetables in your daily diet. It is made with rutabaga, carrots, onions, and potatoes. I like how the veggies don’t need to be precooked in any way prior to compiling the pasties. Cutting them small ensures they cook completely under the pie crust. Homemade pie crust would be tasty but I’m a busy mom so I buy premade pie crusts to speed up the meal prep. The delightful mixture of the pie crust with the soup bathed veggies and meat gives a very robust and savory flavor.
Related Post: Try out my lower carb Rutabaga Potato Salad
Other Ingredients
I drizzle ketchup on top of the pasty piece when serving for a tasty meal. Yes, I really mean ketchup because it makes the dish extra delicious, though it is awesome without ketchup too. The other ingredients include vegetable broth, black pepper, rubbed sage, milk, meat (if desired), cream of mushroom soup, and coconut oil.
The History of the Pasty
The pasty has a known history of being popular among Cornish and Finnish miners. My guess would be because it was a easy way to eat a hearty meal without utensils as traditional pasties are a handheld pouch. Regions of the United States like the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Northern Minnesota are known for a cultural cuisine tradition of making pasties. My grandpa was a Finnish miner so the pasty dish has been a part of my family’s food culture.
My Twist on my Mom’s Classic Meat Pasty
Most premade pasties contain meat. I set out to create a tasty and delicious meatless pasty. My mom made her pasty dish in an eight by eight square pan with just a top layer of pie crust in contrast to the traditional hand held pouch pasty. I changed it further by using two glass pie pans to customize the dish into one meat pasty and one vegetable pasty. The pie pans are greased with coconut oil to help prevent the food from sticking to the pan. All the veggies are prepared together and then split for ease of making the two different pasties.
This is one of my husband’s all time favorites! Actually, it’s one of my too!
This is an original recipe by Julie Hoag, influenced by her memory of her mom’s meat pasty dish.
Mom's Classic Meat Pasty & My Veggie Pasty
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped rutabaga peel and chop into small pieces about 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch cubes or smaller
- 1 cup sliced carrots
- 3/4 cup diced onion
- 2 1/2 cups chopped potatoes peel and chop into small pieces about 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch cubes or smaller
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil to grease the glass pie pans with
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth I use Swanson's.
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage
- 2 pie crusts premade
- 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
- 1 cup skim milk
- 2 cups browned ground beef
- 1 cup ketchup to drizzle over the top once cooked
Instructions
- Peel and cut up the vegetables: rutabaga (2 cups), carrots (1 cup), onions (3/4 cup), and potatoes (2 1/2 cups). Combine all in a large bowl and stir.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and 1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage to 1 cup vegetable broth. Stir. Meanwhile, brown ground beef in frying pan to make 2 cups browned meat.
- Pour the broth and spices mixture over the vegetables. Stir well to coat all vegetables. Grease both glass pie pans with the coconut oil, 1 teaspoon per pan. Use a slotted spoon to scoop vegetables into the pie pans. Add more vegetables to the veggie pasty.
- Add 2 cups browned ground beef to the meat pasty.
- Mix cream of mushroom soup with 1 cup milk and whisk. Evenly pour soup milk mixture: 1 cup over meat pasty and 1 cup over veggie pasty.
- Lay pie crust over the top of each pasty. Curl crust in around the edge to prevent it from getting too brown on edge of pan. Score top of the pasties to allow for a vent during cooking. I score the Veggie one with a large V and the Meat one with a large M. Just because it's fun!
- Cook on the lowest rack at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, then reduce heat of oven to 350 for remaining 35 minutes, so cook for a total of 60 minutes. I cook it this way to prevent the pie crust from browning too much.
- Cut each pasty into fourths. Makes eight servings between the two pasties.
- Drizzle ketchup over the pasty piece.
- Or eat without ketchup. Though the ketchup is a yummy addition!
Notes
Recipe Variations
This recipe could easily be customized to each individual family's tastes. Both pasties could be made veggie or both could be made with meat. Simply double the meat to 4 cups if using meat for both. If dripping out of juices occur, put a cookie sheet pan below the pasty pans to catch drips. This recipe is so good! I hope it becomes a favorite for you. Enjoy!
My dog Frida happy to have a Pupjoy treat!
What you have made has a gravy. Therefore, it is not a pasty, it is a lot pie. Traditional pasty did not have gravy, as they were a lunch the miners carried to work in the mines. It was too messy with gravy and because they didn’t leave the mine to eat, they wanted something quick, easy, filling, and not messy, because they didn’t have a place to tidy up afterwards. No offense, just saying.
Oh, no worries, this was my mom’s version of a pasty. I’m aware of the handheld pasties. Thanks!!