Cornish cowboy pasties
Marcy Tatarka, an absolutely lovely cook I met in Wyoming, was full of all sorts of local food knowledge. She told me that people in this part of America are really into their pasties! Turns out that in the 1920s and 30s, miners from Cornwall came over to work in Montana and it wasn't long before the locals developed a taste for the good old Cornish pasty. Their recipes haven't evolved radically since, but they do embrace local ingredients like chicken, squash and sage. Pastry isn't exactly health food, but a delicious pasty once in a while won't hurt you. If you like, you can make a slightly 'skinnier' pasty by reducing the butter to 200g and adding 50ml of olive oil. But frankly, if I'm making these I just go for it old-school style.
Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
Counts 14 of 16 ingredients — the other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and contribute nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume — 14 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Chicken | 100g cooked | 165 |
| Potato | 1 medium (173g) baked | 161 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Carrot | 1 medium (61g) | 25 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| Soy Sauce | 1 tbsp (15ml) | 9 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Thyme | 1 tsp dried (1.4g) | 4 |
| Sage | 1 tsp ground (0.7g) | 2 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
| Pumpkin | not in our table | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- 250 g butter
- 300 ml hot water
- 500 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 large free-range egg, beaten
- 1 handful medium ground cornmeal or polenta
- 1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
- olive oil
- 4 skinless, boneless higher-welfare chicken thighs, cut into 2cm dice
- ½ small butternut squash, (approximately 250g) peeled and cut into 1cm chunks
- 1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 medium potato, peeled and cut into 1cm chunks
- 6 sprigs fresh sage or thyme, leaves picked and chopped
- nutmeg
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 300 ml organic chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon plain flour