Pasties, Iron Range-style

Quite a bit has happened since I last posted here. I’ve met and married a wonderful man named Paul and we will be celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary this coming April.

Paul is from a part of northern Minnesota called the Iron Range because of it’s rich iron deposits and many iron mines. I’ve learned so very much about the Ranger culture and cuisine, of which the pasty is one of the most beloved parts. Oh, and it is “pasty” (rhymes with “nasty”) as in a Cornish pasty, not the inappropriate stripper wear or the bland color that my skin turns after a long Minnesotan winter.

Paul loves his pasties, especially the ones made by church basement ladies for their yearly fundraiser. So I set out to try to make pasties, using his family recipe and trying to make it the traditional way…before attempting to add my twist to it (you know that’s going to happen, of course!). I made these twice, once on my own using the family recipe and the second time I had Pam, my sister-in-law, show me the tried and true way.

The crust is a simple flaky pastry crust. If you’re a pie maker, you’re quite familiar with the process. If you aren’t a pie maker (yet), here’s how you do it.

Measure out the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then add the shortening – we used butter-flavored Crisco and lard, but any brand of shortening would work.

Then begin cutting the fat into the flour. Using a pastry cutter is vastly easier than using two knives, but if you don’t have a pastry cutter, just use two sharp knives to cut up the shortening and help incorporate it into the flour.

When the shortening has been fully incorporated into the flour and is a bit grainy, then add the cold water and combine.

We kneaded the ball of dough briefly, just to make sure it was all combined

divided it up into 8 parts, wrapped each part in plastic wrap and left them to rest on the counter for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, we peeled and chopped up the filling ingredients–onions, carrots, rutabagas and potatoes.

After peeling and chopping, we combined all the vegetables in a large bowl and seasoned them with salt and pepper.

I don’t recommend doing as we did in our first attempt – we tried to speed things up by purchasing a bag of shredded carrots, however, the carrots poked out through the dough when we assembled them. Lesson learned – just take the extra 5 minutes and peel and dice actual carrots.

After the 20 minute waiting period for the crust was up, we rolled out each of the dough balls

and we began to assemble them. About a cup and a half of the seasoned vegetables, about a half cup of ground beef (approximately 1/4 pound) and a pat of butter went onto one side of the rolled out dough.

The first ones we made could have held a little more filling under the dough, so on our second attempt, we filled them a little fuller.

Then we brushed the edges of the dough around the filling with water and pulled the other half of the dough over the filling

 

and pinched or rolled the crust around on itself. You want to seal in all the juices, so crimp or roll the dough over and around the filling. You can also crimp it with the tines of a fork.

Then place on a baking sheet covered with a sheet of parchment paper and poke some vent holes in the top with a fork.

When you have a pan full of completely assembled pasties, placed about an inch apart in a baking sheet pan, they can go into a 350F/180C oven for 1 hour.

The pasties are ready!

The ones you don’t eat right out of the oven should be cooled fully, then wrapped in aluminum foil and put in a freezer bag and frozen for up to 6 months. You can reheat directly from frozen by putting them directly into a 350F/180C oven for 90 min. Keep the foil on it for the first hour, then open the foil to allow the crust to crisp up for another half hour.

Traditionally, an Iron Range pasty is served with Heinz brand ketchup (is there any other??). Other options are gravy or other sauces as desired…but not if you’re a Ranger.

 

Pasty

Crust:
4 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cup lard or butter flavored Crisco (I use 2/3 cup lard and 2/3 cup butter flavored Crisco)
3/4 cup cold water

 

Filling:
5-6 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cubed
3-4 large carrots, peeled and cubed
1 onion, chopped
1/2 rutabaga, peeled and cubed
2 pounds ground beef (raw)
salt & pepper
4 tablespoons of butter

 

Place measured flour and salt in medium bowl, add shortening/lard and cut together with pastry cutter until the mixture is grainy and the fat has mostly been incorporated into the flour. Then add cold water all at once and mix, kneading with your hands until it becomes a smooth dough.

Then divide dough into eight pieces, wrapping each individual ball with plastic wrap and let rest on the counter for at least 20 minutes.

While the dough is resting, peel and dice the potatoes, carrots and rutabaga and chop the onion, combine in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 350F/180C.

Roll out each individual ball of dough into about a 12-14 inch oval, making sure to roll the crust pretty thin.

Then place about 1 cup of the vegetables in one end of the oval, 1/4 cup of the beef, crumbled over the top, then another 1/2 cup of vegetables and the remaining 1/4 cup of beef crumbled, topped with a pat (about 1/2 tablespoon) of butter. Feel free to squeeze the filling together to compact it so you don’t have vegetables spread all over the dough.

Using a small bowl of water, rub some of the water around the dough at the edge of the filling to help glue your dough together.

Then pull the dough up and over the filling, doing your best to remove air pockets and seal the top crust to the bottom where you spread the water. Then starting on one end, start crimping or rolling the crust over itself to seal the edges. You can use a fork to seal the crust, if you like, or just leave the crust thick and rolled.

Prick the top of the crust with a fork a few times to vent the pasty.

Then place prepared pasty on a baking sheet covered with a sheet of parchment paper. You should be able to fit three to four pasties on each pan.

Bake pasties for one hour and serve while hot with Heinz ketchup. Enjoy!

 

Allow pasties to cool fully on a cooling rack then wrap in aluminum foil and place in freezer bag and freeze up to six months. To reheat after frozen, place foil wrapped pasties on baking sheet in a 350F/180C oven for one hour, then open foil wrap and return pasties to oven for another half hour until fully heated and crusty.