Crystal's Pasty Recipe

I'll make this quick - but my mom's name is Patty and she's from the UP. Growing up in Central Wisconsin, I didn't know what a pasty was. I knew my mom got one every time we went to visit grandma though. My mom still loves pasty's like us Wisconsin girls like our deep fried cheese curds. She tried one from a local grocer the other day and commented how terribly tasteless it was. I decided since yesterday was St Patrick's Day I would try my hand at making her a pasty. Here you go!

I didn't follow a recipe - so this may not follow the traditional rules of pasty making. You've been warned! (lol - but they were delicious)

Filling Ingredients:
-1/4 C diced onions
-2lb ground beef
-3 potatoes chopped into small pieces (if you prefer, you can use 1 potato and 2 rutabaga or whatever combination you prefer - to get you to approximately 3 cups of "stuff")
-2 carrots chopped into small pieces
-3 stalks of celery chopped into small pieces
-1 clove of garlic - minced
salt and pepper to taste

I started by frying up the ground beef and then adding the onion and after those were browned, I added the other ingredients. I wanted the veggies cooked but not mooshy. I tasted yummy just the way it was, so I knew adding the pastry crust would make it that much more delicious!

For the Crust: 
-2C flour
-pinch of salt
-4oz lard (or substitute equal amount butter)
-2-3T cold water

I just make the crust like I would a pie crust (using grandmas pie crust recipe) and rolled it out into a circle. I spooned in the filling that had been cooling while I was mixing the dough.

Put the filling just on half the circle so you can fold the top over. It's important to get a good seal, so I pressed down the edges really well all the way around and then cut the steam vents into the top of each pasty.

Now is about the point I started the oven preheating to 350F and put the parchment paper on the baking sheets. After all the pasty's were folded over and sealed, I used my fingers to pinch the edges like a pie crust and then transferred them onto the parchment paper lined baking sheets.

Before baking - I brushed each pasty with an egg wash to give them to shiny brown delicious color.

Bake 45-60 minutes and allow to cool a bit before serving. Serve with ketchup or gravy as desired.

ENJOY!!!!