BY BEVERLY’S DAUGHTER, NANCY WALKER
Earlier this year, Beverly Erickson taught members of the Encore Gourmet Club how to make her delicious pasties. She and her daughters were kind enough to share with us both the recipe and why it is a family favorite. We hope you’ll give this dish a try sometime. We all loved it and we know you will too.
The pasty (rhymes with nasty but tastes delicious) is a Northern Minnesota food tradition. They were introduced to the Iron Range area in the 1840s by Cornish immigrants who came to the region to work in the mines.
They made the ideal lunch for miners because they’re a hearty, hand-held meal in one that fit in the lunch pail. I read that they used to put them in a shovel and warm them over a candle in their miner’s hats.
Beverly said she learned how to make pasties from helping her mother. She recalls it being a seasonal dish that they would eat in the Fall when the weather got cooler.
Her daughters said “when we were kids, we used to enjoy helping Momroll out the dough and dice the rutabaga and other ingredients. She has always been an expert making and crimping crusts – for pies andpasties.” It’s also helpful to make extra pasties to keep in the freezerand reheat when you want a comfort food for dinner with minimal effort.
Here’s the recipe:
Mix like pie dough - makes 4 balls: 2-1/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup shortening
8 Tbsp cold water
Mix separately for filling: 1-1/2 cup diced potatoes 2 cups diced rutabaga
2 cups diced onions
1 pound beef steak cubed (round steak)
For later:
1 tsp salt & 1 tsp pepper Butter
Roll 1 ball of crust into a circle. Add 2 cups of meat/veggie mix onto one side of the crust. Put a chunk of butter and salt & pepper on top. Fold over half the crust and crimp the edges. Repeat for other crusts. Bake for 2 hours at 325-350 degrees.
Have a recipe you would like to share? Let us know.