Vegetable Pasties

Medina and I had our first pasties while walking on King's Road in London during our honeymoon. Ever since then I've been craving the authentic working-man's British street food. Tonight, I succeeded in recreating them. I started with this recipe from allrecipies.com, and modified it to suit our tastes.



Ingredients
Dough:
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
1 1/4 cups cold water

Veggie filling:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic
2 carrots, thinly sliced
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons water
1 cube vegetable bouillon
salt and pepper, old bay seasoning to taste
1 egg, beaten

The first step is to put the dough together. Lacking whole wheat flour, I just went with regular unbleached white flour. Mix the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Cut the shortening in until the mixture reaches a crumby consistency, then mix the water in until all the dry ingredients are incorporated into the dough. I started with an electric mixer, but ended up using my hands to get the dough into a ball. Divide the dough into eight roughly equal pieces and roll those pieces into a ball, cover, and set aside.

Next, cut up your vegetables. Chop the onions and garlic first and put them into a large heavy skillet with the olive oil to begin them sautéing. Chop the potatoes, sweet potato, and carrots into small, roughly equal pieces to ensure even cooking. Once the onions are translucent, add the other vegetables, water, and veggie bouillon to the skillet. Add salt, pepper, and other seasonings to taste. Cook the veggies until they are soft enough for your liking.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll the dough balls out into 6-8 inch circles and place a little less than a cup of the veggie mixture in the middle. Fold the dough over in half and pinch the edges together. Place the pasties on a baking sheet and brush the tops with the egg. Bake for about 35-45 minutes or until golden brown.